Avalon Reborn
by General Texas
Summary: We've all heard the stories of great heroes and their triumphs. Most of them we only recognize to be little more than that: stories, fables created to entertain children and give hope for a brighter future. Some of them, like the tale of King Arthur and his Knights, are true enough to become Legends. It's time for Avalon to be Reborn. Rating may change in the future.
1. Prologue: Discovery of Old Avalon

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction (now with limited OCs)

Prologue: The Great War/Curse of Crocea Mors

* * *

We've all heard the stories of great heroes and their triumphs. Most of them we only recognize to be little more than that: stories, fables created to entertain children and give hope for a brighter future. Others became legends: true facts that have been passed off as myth. The tale of the Four Maidens was one such story. This is where our story begins, when ten young adventurers stumbled upon one such legend in the form of a map…

(Anno Tenebrae 5204, October 13)

"Marron," called a blue-haired woman in her 20's, running up to a table in a run-down shed in the middle of a wooded area. Standing 5' 3", the blue-haired woman's eyes shone a bright green under her navy hood, forest-green hunting tunic-armor, brown belts running across her chest and waist, and strode as quickly as possible while wearing her tattered gray armored pants, teal combat skirt, and steel-toed brown boots. "Terrence, Aidan, Gris, Electro, Frosty! C'mere, you won't believe what I just found."

"Oh no," Terrence Vasilias muttered, rubbing his tan forehead. "Don't tell me you found another hot springs, Azura."

"I wouldn't mind it," Aidan Ferrous said, winking at Azura. "I could use some alone time with Miss Aquaria."

"Well I would," Terrence glared at Aidan. Azura waved her arms furiously in an attempt to get her allies' attentions.

"It's not a hot spring," Azura shouted, glaring at Terrence for starting it all while blushing from Aidan's comment. She pulled out a wrinkled old rolled up piece of paper out of a sachet on her waist and set it on the table. "It's an old map or something."

"A map, eh," Gris Cirrus mumbled, sharpening one of her flint arrows. "Probably some sort of pirate treasure stuffed with booby traps."

"Maybe it's some ancient civilization with pretty lasses," Jupiter Electro predicted, making both Gris and Azura roll their eyes.

"I doubt it at the highest level," Arctico Schnee muttered loudly. "If it were, the civilization would be long-gone by now. And being right between the four kingdoms, the village might've been absorbed or destroyed. I'm skeptical about this being anything other than some treasure map or something of the sort."

"There's only one way to find out," Marron Arc, one of the few master pathfinders and ancient map readers in his time, said before unrolling the old map. He found inscriptions on the bottom right-hand corner of the wrinkled paper. "'Anno Domini MCCCXXXV June IV'. This is the Forgotten Language of the Ancients. Guys, this is incredible. This map is well preserved for its age. Azura, where'd you even find this?"

"I think it was in this armored skeleton's bag, in some old cave," Azura remembered.

"Hold the horses," Aidan shouted. "You just said a bunch of gibberish to me. What the Hell does any of that even mean?"

"Anno Domini was a way of saying their religion and status," Marron explained, getting giddy. "It means 'the Year of the Lord,' and was usually used by Christian knights. MCCCXXXV was their numerical system, and basically means 1335. June is July, and… basically, it's the date. This was pre-gunpowder age, even before the Grimm even existed. The Fourth of July, 1335 Common Era. Oh my Iunia, this is incredible."

"That's nice and all, but what does any of that mean," Jupiter deadpanned. Marron glared at the toga-wearing man named after one of the Roman gods.

"This map is about 4000 years old, if not more," Marron returned. He then turned his attention to the map. "Okay buddy, where do you lead?" He pulled out a second map, this one modern and clear, and set it over the map and arranged it until the features aligned. The Arc took out a pen and marked down each of the marked points of the old map on his modern one. He marked their location on the map and traced routes to each new point.

"Hey, what about the red 'X'," Arctico pointed on the old map. Marron swatted his hand away and circled it on his map, drawing out a route to the circle.

"I was getting to it, Frosty," Marron grumbled. Arctico glared at Marron, turning red at the ears.

"For the last time," Arctico yelled at Marron. "Stop calling me Frosty!"

"Well, it's only because your Aura is Ice-elemental," Azura giggled. This didn't help.

"Oh really," Schnee returned. "Then why don't I call you Fishy, Terrence the Stone, Aidan Hot-Head, Jupiter… okay, his nickname _is_ his name, Gris Cloudface, and Marron Worthless?"

"Call me worthless one more time," Marron growled. "I dare you. See what happens."

"What're you gonna do to me, _worthless_? Write on me?" Barely a second passed before Marron had punched the heir to the Schnee Dust Mining Corporation through the shack door. Marron's bear fist reverted back to its human equivalent as his Semblance's power died down.

"Test me, and I'll write on your gravestone," Marron threatened. His attention returned to the map on the small table. "Alright, I've found the spot. We should head due West for about a kilometer, then North for three kilometers followed by Northeast for six. We'll stop there before it gets dark, knowing the Grimm, terrain, and our luck. Tomorrow, we can try for the last ten kilometers East—."

"Why can't we just go in a straight line instead of in some funky spiral wannabe," Gris demanded.

"We're surrounded by mountains on all sides but due West. This is the quickest way I know."

"Okay then, we should head out as soon as we're ready," Azura said excitedly as she grabbed her exploration gear. "I just can't wait! We're going to be the first to explore some 4000 year old ruins from an old era."

"Sorry about calling you all that," Arctico apologized. "I just wanted to prove a point. I really didn't expect a serious reaction, and I certainly did not expect to get punched through a wall."

"Well now that you apologized, we're even," Marron joked. "Seriously though, I do understand. You _did_ go overboard, though."

* * *

The next day…

"Packing took too long last night," Marron said, nowhere near pleased at the moment. "I'm looking at you two, Azura, Arctico. And don't even say you weren't involved, Terrence."

"Hey, you never know what might happen," Azura said with a bit too much energy. "Besides, I was just all sorts of excited yesterday. I couldn't help it."

"I agree with Azura," the Schnee said with a smirk. "Although, watching her and Terrence argue and fight all night last night was rather amusing."

"And to think," Terrence grumbled, covering his left eye so as to hide his bruises. "All that mess started with me saying to pack lightly."

"Aw, shut your yap," Azura snapped at Terrence. "You were spoiling the fun. Besides, you really can't go wrong with a little team exploration."

"I can think of at least three things that can go wrong off the top of my head right now," Terrence argued. "Grimm attack, trap, and raiders. And don't forget all the natural dangers like an avalanche, mudslide, sinkhole, and all that business."

"Stop reminding me how bad walking can be," Gris growled as she caught Aidan when he tripped on a tree root.

"So," Azura trailed off. "Are we there yet?" Marron groaned.

"Not by a long shot," the Arc said from the front. "We literally just started walking not even thirty minutes ago. My guess is that at this rate, we'll get there about two or three days from now. It'll be a miracle if we get there tomorrow, impossible if we get there today."

"And who are these guys walking with us," Aidan asked. Arctico blushed slightly from his position behind one of the nearby villagers. "I mean, sure they may know the area a lot better than we do, but they're also complete strangers."

"I honestly don't care," Arctico said, catching up to one of the young women his age. "I'll take all the help I can get."

"You mean you see a benefit from this little trip from our hideout, do you," Aidan teased. Arctico looked back at Aidan with an ice-cold stare.

"Are you implying that I was in this only for the women," Arctico demanded. Aidan nodded, cackling the whole way. "If that's the case, then you're wrong. I'll leave leading the Mining Corp to my brother Wilbur; honestly, I enjoy finding new treasures and artifacts. It's far more entertaining than sitting at some wooden desk reading and signing papers all day. Besides, Wilbur is more oriented to the business side of life, whereas I, on the other hand, am more geared to experience what the gods have put before us. And that may or may not include beautiful women such as this one." The priest's assistant blushed and giggled as she wrapped her arms around one of his.

"You are such a flirt," Gris grumbled at Arctico. She felt Aidan wrap an arm around her shoulders, and turned her head to see him grinning smugly at her. "And what are _you_ planning now?"

"Nothing," Aidan said. "But you might want to look a little more carefully."

"And what's that supposed to—," she began before being cut off by a swinging spike trap activating and flying right at her… only to be burned to ashes almost instantly as Aidan's Fire-elemental Aura wrapped around both of them. She was breathing heavily from fear, having seen her life flash before her eyes.

"Spike traps," he noticed. His eyes flittered from tree to tree. "There's about fifty in total. Watch where you step; I can't protect everyone, and I can't burn 'em all. Wait here while I scorch us a trap-less path."

Two traps activated right in front of Marron, which were both incinerated before the spikes could touch him. Hundreds more traps were incinerated in a similar fashion along a single path. After a brief pause, the twelve-manned team continued their journey along the new path.

* * *

(17 years ago, Anno Tenebrae 5227, 3 months after Spring Equinox)

"So there we were," Marron told his nine children. "We broke into a clearing with massive ruins. In the center of it all, there stood a massive stone monument in front of this _giant_ tower. At the base of the monument laid Crocea Mors and seven rare gems: amber, topaz, diamond, opal, quartz, emerald, and one of the biggest pearls I'd ever seen. Each one looked like it was fashioned to go on either the pommel or the guard of a sword.

"I picked up Crocea without thinking about it, and then I looked up to read the inscription: 'Timor facit virtus,' and et cetera. The rest read that those gems were exactly what they looked like, and said that those of great virtue will build great swords matching the elemental natures of those jewels, resurrect a great Light, and conquer the Darkness that threatens the world. I saw several scrapped swords in a pile scattered around the sides of the monument."

"Did anyone ever do that," asked Pearl, Marron's nine-year-old daughter. The 45-year-old Arc laughed and shook his head.

"Well, no one's succeeded so far, but your father and his six trusty explorer friends certainly gave it their best shot," Marron said, taking his 3-month-old son in his arms as his wife Violet (A/N: Marron and Violet are French, so the 'n' is more nasal and the 'et' sounds more like an 'a') came to sit down with him. "Maybe one or all of you could do it, if you put yourselves up to it."

His oldest son Topaz rolled his eyes and gave a small 'humph'.

"So you found some gemstones," Topaz Arc grumbled. "So what? It's not like they'll do much of anything. Even if they are somehow 'blessed' or whatever, there's about ten thousand Grimm for every person on Remnant. Besides, there's always going to be some kind of evil in the world; if one falls, another will just come up to replace it. It's an endless cycle of good versus evil."

With that, Topaz got up and left the room before Marron could say anything. The father sighed, knowing his son wouldn't listen. He turned to face his daughters, but they had already gotten up to do their homework or help Arctico's wife in the kitchen baking brownies.

"Seems like either they're uninterested or they simply don't care," Terrence observed. Marron nodded, detesting the ignorance that modern technology and Dust has given the next generation. "Look, maybe the next generation of Knights just isn't in this world yet. And even if it is, who's to say that it _is_ in one of our families."

"He has a point, you know," Arctico added. "Also, Jupiter, Aidan, and Gris are all out there training new students and looking for potential Knights. If anyone will find them, it's those three."

"I know," Marron sighed. He remembered hearing the news that Azura had settled down in a small village and began looking, but hadn't heard from her since. Word eventually came that she'd had a daughter before dying fighting a Grimm infestation near her home. Apparently, some people had heard about the new Brotherhood defending legends that proved to be true and wanted to destroy them, perhaps to hide the legends, perhaps to destroy them or even take them for misguided purposes. Aidan and Gris had already been attacked by mercenaries, and Jupiter had almost died from an assassination attempt; Azura was assumed KIA from one of the assassination attempts due to her skill with fighting Grimm. Arctico hid from the public eye and became nonexistent so at least one member of the Brotherhood would survive and keep the organization alive.

"Remember, Marron," Terrence rested his hand on the Arc's shoulder. "This next generation is one of promise, now that the Great War has ended and Liberty has been reinstated as a way of life. Perhaps a new way of thinking is necessary to keep this world safe."

"What do you mean, Terrence," Marron asked. Terrence shrugged.

"I mean that perhaps modernity is the way to keep legends alive, perhaps even create new ones. Of course the Seven Seekers has made their name in the books, but maybe it's time to take a step back, show our replacements the way we took and let them find new ways to do what we've been doing for twenty-odd years now. After all, you could be holding the future in your hands as we speak, in the most literal sense."

Marron understood what he was saying and looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. He wondered if he was right, that the future of Humans, Faunus, and Life itself, had only begun his little journey. That the tiny heart beating in his infant son's chest was the Heart of Courage he had been searching for all along. The father smiled at the youth in his arms as bright blue eyes revealed themselves from behind sleeping eyelids.

"You're right," Marron said softly so as to not scare his son. "Maybe this old explorer has taken a bit too long on his trip." He brought his son's forehead to his lips and planted a kiss on his son's little head, earning him a small coo of love before the infant realized it was hungry once more. "Perhaps you are the key to the future, little one."

Jaune Arc's story was about to be placed in his own tiny hands. For now though, he needed a mighty hand from those who were stronger like his father Marron Arc. His journey, no matter how delicate, had just begun.

 **End**

* * *

 **A/N: Damnation that was powerful. In case anyone's wondering, Anno Tenebrae means Year of Darkness in Latin. Latin is the 'Forgotten Language of the Ancients', more on that in a later chapter. I think I could get away with writing an actual book based on this here fanfiction.**

 **I'm currently going through Writer's Block on AOOA (All for One, One for All). If anyone has any ideas for that, let me know and I'll try to implement that into the story. Also, if anyone has an idea for an impossible crime to solve, tell me that so I can get the gears turning for my eBook series, C.I. Oakwood (formerly C.I. Sherlock). Other than that, I'll see you all later. Texas, out.**


	2. Memories of a Lost Generation, Pt 1

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction

Chapter I: Memories of a Lost Generation, Pt 1: Marron Arc and the Soldiers of Argonne, Vacuo

* * *

5216, April 30. 2 years before Freshman Year…

Jaune Arc wasn't one for speaking to the dead. His father told him once that people couldn't hear his prayers after they were dead, sometime after his great-grandfather passed away. Still, he couldn't help but feel guilt for the deceased in his family, especially those killed one night when he was young. It was difficult for him to bear, being the only one other than Topaz and three of his sisters who survived. Sure, he felt the 'it should've been me' guilty feeling that everyone else felt, but he also felt as though he should've worked with his father more on his swordsmanship. In fact, if anyone should've stopped the slaughter it would've been him; after all, it was him who his father taught the power of Instinct Aura to, him who knew the dark road his brother travelled on. So why couldn't he stop Topaz from going rogue?

Jaune walked through the Cimetière de Triomphe, the place his ancestors and family were buried, and searched for the place where their tombstone laid. He eventually came to it, the place where his ancestors were buried: the Arc de Triomphe, the towering stone archway modeled after the original erected in honor of his great ancestors. In line with the left leg of the monument stood six headstones and one small memorial—a bronze statue of Marron Arc, standing proud over a pile of rubble, sword drawn and blade pointed to the stars. At the base of both monuments was the inscription:

"With every passing hour, my soul grows weary;

My heart grows tired, my body gives way.

And I look up to the Stars, seeking a healing Balm,

And I find Him there, my Saving Grace, my Salvation.

When I reach my new Home there, save your tears.

We will see each other soon, on the day He brings us Home."

Just like his own ancestors, Marron recited that very line as he died, bleeding on burning-hot dirt with Crocea Mors in hand. With his dying breath, he placed Crocea Mors in Jaune's hands and told him to 'seek Glory for the Lord with all your heart, and feel His Love as I soon will.' By that time, Topaz had already unleashed his new Dark Aura and coated himself in it, making him look as though the oldest Arc son were no longer a Knight, but rather the Roman god of Death, Pluto. The midnight purple longsword in Topaz's hands, Oblivion, glistened in the moonlight as his father's blood slowly dripped off of the dark blade. While Jaune couldn't remember much after that, he did remember being in a massive crater covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, Crocea Mors in its longsword mode (which was basically both the sword and shield combined) in hand. Jaune had no idea what happened while he was blacked out, but he knew he was still enraged at Topaz for outright slaughtering his family.

Drawing his personal sword, Polaris, and kneeling with the blade point-down before the monument, Jaune said a silent prayer. He then stood, took the marble roses he'd bought, and set them before the grave. He'd missed the initial funeral and the erection of the statue, so he thought he'd drop by and pay a visit now rather than later.

Just before he left, a single glimmering tear, lit by the moonlight, fell from his face and touched the grass in front of the statue. He made a silent promise to visit them every year until justice was served, then left the graveyard in search of his father's former companions.

* * *

CC-128A, also known as Derrek or The Cauterizer depending on who you spoke to, was one of several test subjects for the newest device in targeting systems: the Scout. An ocular device designed for absolute precision, the first set of tests—which just so happened to be the one Derrek was in—incorporated youth before moving on to adults in order to see the legal limits of the devices. Derrek was invited for the sniper portion despite being a nine-tailed fox Faunus, and was thus far the sharpest shot in the entire group. Then again, he had an edge against everyone: Target Sight, an ocular syndrome which allowed him to see the trajectory of every shot he took, as well as the vital organs and weaker points in each target he set his sights on. When his eyes took on the Target Sight form, they went from a dark navy to bright orange, as well as developing black scope-sight marks across the iris and retina.

At 17, he was well-built from trying to follow his role models. He had a good reason for that: his role models were the soldiers of the Argonne Woodlands, a forest near Vacuo that was a famous battle ground during the Great War. These men were legendary, even more so than the 300 Spartans—not only did they fight outnumbered behind enemy lines, but they also had seriously limited supplies compared to their enemies, had no reinforcements, no communications, and inferior technology. And most unlike the Spartans, the Argonne soldiers (or the Argonne Spartans, as some referred to them as) came out with minimal casualties and injuries. They had everything going against them and still came out on top as if they were fighting with all advantages possible. They had a monument built in his home village near Vacuo, obviously called Argonne. Of course, the Argonne Spartans were lost in myths as Spartan wannabes, but they were so much better than their predecessors: for one, the Spartans were outnumbered almost 300 to one while the Argonne Spartans were outnumbered several thousand to one.

In any case, tonight he was out on a mission with a 'comrade'. She was a fellow sniper with a 50-calibre rifle (inferior compared to his plasma-repeater blaster, not counting the barrel extensions and high-powered electronic scope on the more advanced rifle), but he still didn't trust her. After all, she did try to rape him at one point; thankfully, she didn't do any serious damage to herself or his reputation, but she did lose her trustworthiness. He had other reasons for his lack of trust in her, but he didn't necessarily feel like thinking about any of that—especially since the rape attempt was fairly recent at 2 months ago.

"Ivy, this is Apex," he spoke through his earpiece, using their codenames. Her real name was unknown to him, but he usually called her by what she was: Frisky. "I've got an eye on the Fang, currently in position Alpha. What's your status?"

"Ivy to Apex," she replied. "I'm in position. Say, this is a pretty good view. Tell you what: if we take out the target quickly, we can take a few moments and tie up loose ends before we pack up. What say you?"

"Focus, Ivy," he scolded. "Remember the mission, remember our targets. Pull out your binoculars, put on your Scout, and find the Tally."

"Aww, you're no fun," she whined, making him roll his eyes. "You were much more fun a few weeks ago."

"And you still act like one of the worst whores any man could have the misfortune of running into."

"You paid for what you got," she said seductively. "No whining or complaining."

"For the record, I paid you to put some clothes _on_ , not take them off," Derrek recounted. Still not finding his target, he activated his Target Sight and got a reading immediately. "I got a lock. Tally found: five degrees Rhode by twenty Denver of Alpha, three hundred meters out. Tally is hiding behind a large metal shack ten meters ahead of the Fang."

"Hang on, still looking," Frisky said. "Who is he again?"

"Sam Kneeler," Apex answered. "27, 5' 3", 60 kilos. Brown hair, blue eyes, white hoody and complexion. Hates the White Fang with a passion, criminal records say he's wanted for attempted battery, robbery, and attempted identification forgery. Supposedly, he's been trying to make Faunus look bad while also after making the Fang snap against humans."

"Well, that's not very bright of him," Ivy commented after a few moments. "Okay, I've got a target lock now. Ready when you are."

"You calibrated," Apex demanded. She growled with his insistence on completing the mission before giving an affirmative response. He picked up his rifle and took aim at Sam. "Fire on my mark. Three, two… steady, deep breath."

A loud crack burst out, making the Faunus sniper have a mini heart attack. He turned on the safety and looked at the Fang with his rifle, only to be met with a horrifying sight. The White Fang leader, Warren Savage, had a gaping hole in his head, blood and brain matter pouring out like a waterfall. All around him, his subordinates were looking for his killer. Panic set in over Derrek.

"Damn it all," he cursed as silently as he could while suppressing rage. "You didn't calibrate properly, did you Ivy?"

"I thought I did," she said with a notably falsetto tone covered with panic, one only noticeable by a Faunus. "It doesn't matter right now; we've got to get out of here."

Derrek grabbed everything he brought with him, no matter how limited it was, and scrambled to get away. The mission was a complete failure on behalf of Frisky; not only did they screw up the shot, but they got the Fang leader killed. The head of the Scouts Research Division was not going to be pleased, and it was most certainly going on Derrek's head. He took off his Scout and deactivated his Target Sight as he ran, slinging his rifle on his armored back.

He barely made it thirty five meters before a sharp crack caught his attention, followed shortly by an explosive pain catching the back of his padded knee. In the amount of time he fell from the rooftops to the asphalt below, he managed to assess what hit him: his armor was resistant to both armor-piercing and high-caliber rounds, but couldn't withstand a combination of the two. He had no idea if any of the White Fang had bullets like that, but he knew one person who definitely had that breed of bullet: Frisky. He wasn't surprised, but he still felt betrayed by someone he thought he could trust in a harsh situation such as this one.

He was still conscious when the Fang got to him. They didn't come with open arms, as obvious as that might've been. Instead, some of them grabbed him by the arms and dragged him to his feet as the lieutenant walked towards him.

"What do we have here," called the gruff sing-song voice that could've only come from Adam Taurus, Derrek's rifle in hand. "Am I to assume you're the one who killed Warren? And this black toy is your rifle, no?"

"That is my rifle," the Cauterizer replied, wincing from the pain in his shoulders and right knee, the latter of which was bleeding profusely. "But I didn't kill Warren. If I did, I'd be proud of it; really, I'm a little taken aback by it myself."

"Do you think I'm just some dumb animal, Human? I'm not just going to take your word for it. In fact, I think it's time to find out if you're even telling the truth."

With that, Adam leveled the blaster with Derrek's right eye and pulled the trigger. Searing-hot blue plasma in the form of a foot-long 1-inch diameter cylinder of concentrated hydrogen and lithium ions ejected from the barrel of the rifle and connected with the sniper's eye, both incinerating the eye and instantly cauterizing the wound. Derrek cried out in pain as his scope eye was taken away faster than it could blink.

"Humph. Looks like you were telling the truth after all," Adam mumbled as the Faunus dropped Derrek. "Too bad you won't live long enough to forgive me. As if I were even looking for that sort of thing."

"My my, that was pretty brutal," cooed a familiar voice. Derrek felt Ivy's footsteps coming up to Adam. "I guess it's good I'm not on your bad side. The SRD thanks you for your work, by the way."

"It helped that you tried to make me jealous of him," Adam said with an audible grin. Derrek secretly activated his left Sight and arched the Natural Aura empowering his vision to see them. He regretted it instantly, as he witnessed her kissing his masked 'killer'. "So, Alyssa, I overheard your conversation on the roof. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Mmh… maybe not," the now-named Alyssa said, slipping off one sleeve of her fleece jacket to reveal a rather skimpy camisole and sports bra underneath. "I'd rather take it inside, where no one can see us. Besides, it'd be a bit cooler inside, give us a better reason to get all hot, don't you think?"

Derrek felt the ground vibrating around her feet in such a way that it told him instantly that she was really a cat Faunus in disguise. His Storm Shock armor allowed him to feel things as if he were wearing a vibration amplifier on his body. This was one moment out of many when he wished he'd never known her.

As soon as all of the Faunus left the area to dispose of their old leader's body, Derrek got up as slowly and discreetly as possible. He put a tourniquet above the bullet wound in his knee after pulling out the bullet, then moved on to his eye. While the Natural Aura could rebuild his eye in a year, it would take a decade of serious training to regain the Target Sight he had in his left eye. As a temporary fix to his eye problem, he took his specially-designed Scout and split the visual device down the already-divided nose. He then took the right half of the device and placed it over the scorched wound and eye socket. The device attached to his ocular nerves and activated, drawing in Natural Aura as a new power source to further integrate with its host body. He could now see with his right side, and the Natural Aura around him took to healing his leg wound. He knew he needed help with his problem, and took to thinking about ideas of where to get it.

As he made his escape, he wondered what the Argonne Spartans would've done. Immediately, it occurred to him: all of the Argonne soldiers went to Beacon Academy before coming back home to fight in the war with their new skills. That was where he was going, he decided. Beacon it is then. He would not disappoint his ancestors, especially not the one who fought in the Argonne back in 5178. It reminded him of the men who died in the real Argonne forest in France back in 1918, over 32 centuries ago. 40 years ago, his grandfather fought gallantly near Argonne to save the entire world as they knew it; now it was Derrek's turn to do the same.

 **End**

* * *

 **Coming up next chapter: Memories of a Lost Generation, Pt. 2: Lucy, the Knights of Wrino, and the Vikings of Nordhill…**


	3. Memories of a Lost Generation, Pt 2

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction

Chapter II: Memories of a Lost Generation, Pt 2: Lucy, and the Knights of the Wrino clan

* * *

5218, July 4. Approx. 3 months before Freshman Year…

Rodger Fall walked through the Outskirts, a desert outside of the forest surrounding Vale, just as he's done for about four years now. Young Scorchers, keratin-shelled lizards native to the Outskirts, burrowed beneath the sands under his feet and feasted on cacti in their dens. The larger Scorchers prowled the burning land like kings, especially the Alphas of each pack. Adult Scorchers were twice as powerful as a Death Stalker or King Taijitu, though Rodger found it easy to take the reptilians on. In fact, he had no reason to worry—he may only have a traveler's cloak and thin tattered clothes, but he had the mega-scythe Zenith, knew the weak points of Scorchers and their armor, and, if all else failed, knew how to use Machinamorphism, a breed of Aura manipulation which turned a user's body into a powerful machine or advanced technological terror.

Like all Morphisms, Machinamorphism used Aura to transform a user's body into something else, like a machine or an animal or plant, even the elements themselves or celestial bodies in some extremely rare cases. In Rodger's case, he transformed into a ribbed sphere with an orange-hot internal ribbed sphere, and a glowing yellow spherical core from which protruded the first two spheres and a pair of rib-link whips (A/N: think the Shredder balls from the Battleship movie with similarly-styled whips). He also could transform into a similar bipedal humanoid machine with a core in his chest cavity that acted similar to a permanently rotating external and internal ribbed… thingy (A/N: think the Destroyer from Thor with a Shredder in its chest and eye sockets, and Transformers-styled lips and nose instead of that weird face-cannon thing). What was amazing about the Morphisms, as well as what distinguished them from Semblances, is the fact that they returned the users Aura and even drew in Natural Aura, sometimes even draining Aura from what is destroyed by it, to keep running.

Some travelers wonder and even ask Rodger why he stayed in the Outskirts. He always told a half-truth, saying that so long as one stayed clear of the Scorchers, Mountain Birds, and Desert Crawlers, and knew a cactus from a Hog Trap, one could always survive in the desert if they followed the Sand Boars. When they griped that it was dangerous, he would tell them to get back to civilization if they weren't staying there instead of telling the full truth. He always did that to hide his guilt for what happened four years ago, before he left Vale and lived in the Outskirts.

* * *

*Flashback*

"You may now kiss the bride," said the priest after the new couple exchanged vows and rings. While Rodger wasn't the new spouse or even the best man, he was still with the best man as one of the new husband's wingman. After all, the man was a family friend, and he owed the man that much. At the reception, a little girl—four at most—in a tulip-colored dress came running up to Rodger while he was talking with a Huntress and family friend of Rodger's. She giggled as she clung to Rodger's leg. The 10-year-old Fall chuckled as he hoisted her to his height.

"Say," said the Huntress. "Who's that you've got there?"

"Oh, this little rascal," Rodger looked at the officer. "This is Lucy Gesneriana. She's a cutie, isn't she?"

"I'll say," said the woman. "But why'd she come running to you, anyhow?"

"Well, she's an orphan," Rodger began. "But I took her under my wing and took good care of her until now, and my cousin and his new wife began taking over for me and now they've adopted her. She's still a good friend though… Actually, she's like a daughter to me. Not that she is or anything, but it sure seems like it from a distance."

Lucy giggled in his arms. The woman, Anne, asked if she could hold the girl, maybe have a chat with her. Rodger let her, and eventually came over to his now-married older cousin. The two talked, and eventually got to an uncomfortable topic.

"So… what's going on with Cinder and whatnot," his cousin asked. Rodger sighed.

"You know what Ronald," Rodger griped. "You may be married, but you still know how to get on to really unlikeable topics." Ronald laughed.

"To answer your question," Fall continued as Anne and Ronald's new wife Sara came over. "Cinder started going rogue about a couple of months ago, when she met this 'Toe Pazark' or whoever. Next thing I know, a couple of weeks ago she really goes rogue and kills Mom, Dad, and even the dog Andi. Thank the Heavens that Rae and Laura weren't home, 'cause I think she'd have killed them too. Anyways, she tried to kill me that same night. Ended up failing because, you know, my Semblance is pretty powerful and most definitely defensive. After all was said and done, she scattered from exhaustion while I just blacked out. Cops thought I was dead; it was hilarious to see their faces when I woke up, they just freaked out and shouted 'He's alive! He's alive!' It's alive!"

The four of them laughed before Lucy came running up, giggling all the way. Ronald chuckled as Sara met her halfway and scooped up the little girl in her arms. It was about then that all Hell broke loose from whatever cage it was in.

Two cronies, whosever they were, drew machine guns loaded with Dust rounds and took aim at the small group with the new couple. Rodger blasted his Aura forth and created a Solar Shield, basically vaporizing any and all bullets fired. He then gathered the shield and created a Flare intended for only the attackers and blinded the two. One of the men swung wide, only to be caught by Rodger's arm as a steel-plated machine arm. By the time he was finished with the two, he thought both had been knocked out. When he heard the click, he reacted instantly and covered the explosive device he sensed as soon as he could. He caught most of the shrapnel, but the force flung him into the ceiling and knocked everyone else over, including the two crooks. He hit the ceiling with his spine and skull, knocking him out cold.

When he woke up two minutes later, he saw minor devastation, no KIA's, and… he froze instantly when he saw what happened to the shrapnel he couldn't catch. Sara was shaking uncontrollably over a purple-pink dress on the floor, Ronald rubbing one shoulder with tears in his eyes. Lying in a small puddle of blood on the waxed wooden floor, red soaking her adorable dress, beautiful rose eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, was Lucy. The one thing keeping Rodger tied to this world as a normal person, the one person he considered to be family more than anyone else in the world, was now dead because he wasn't fast enough. Because his Aura wasn't strong enough. Because he wasn't good enough to protect her. Guilt caught up to him faster than light, and tears welled up in his eyes almost immediately. The funeral was short, the procession was short, and everyone seemed to move on too quickly. The guilt eventually got to him and he left his home in Vale, ran to the Outskirts, and essentially became a pack leader himself, leading young orphans from abandoned or destroyed villages and towns and teaching them how to use Morphism techniques and unlocking their Auras and Semblances. He swore to himself that until his own Semblance was under his control and was much faster than any other, he would rarely if ever let it activate. His Machinamorphism became so powerful that he could grind away even the toughest hides on a Grimm, almost letting him tear through Scorcher keratin armor.

* * *

*Present day*

He would always see her in his dreams, and they would have conversations and fun and whatnot. He never really forgave himself, but she certainly forgave him. Lucy would always tell him how she would come back to see him one day. He never really believed in reincarnation, so he didn't really believe her in regards of that; he did believe that she would always be with him.

As of now, he was on his way back to Vale because she told him that, while he may never be able to really move on, she shouldn't be the reason he left civilization. So he told his pack that he was going back to his homelands, and that he might not come back to the Outskirts. They mentioned that they might go to school elsewhere, like in Shade or Haven, but if he ever needed them or vice versa, their Auras would always be tied to his with an unshakeable bond, and that they could call on each other through that. He agreed, and simply got a simple job as a security agent of sorts at some small Dust shop called 'From Dust till Dawn' to protect from the increasingly common Dust shop robberies. Rodger noticed a trend, in that most of the robberies involved Schnee Dust Company mined Dust and other assorted products, leaving the money with the store owners…

* * *

Natural Aura could be tied to Human or Life Aura by use of the Yillian cells in the body. Each Yillian cell had a strong tie to both Natural and Life Aura, and could be used to manipulate things with Natural Aura or even the very Aura around something to make it react in the preferred way. Of course, that was provided that the user had enough Yillian cells to begin with. A normal Human or Faunus had around 2-5 percent of the cells in their body as Yillian cells. The average Aura manipulator generally had about 10 percent Yillian cells, the bare minimum to manipulate Natural Aura, or use the Life Force of the World (Force for short). The Wrino clan had around 20 percent, while James Wrino (as weak as he was physically) had almost 27 percent, which was more than enough to do what he could do as a Rela, a wielder of the 'Force'.

James Wrino, a member of the Wrino clan, locked plasma blades with a fellow student under the Rela instruction. He wanted so bad to bring back the honor of the Wrino clan, whose ways grew so corrupt that their souls were consumed by a dragon Grimm. Every time a fellow Rela student threw a shrewd comment or insult to him because of his heritage, he would become enraged beyond logic. That's where the teachings of the Rela became corrupt to him: they were strict, and taught that emotion or even erotic love and/or rage were forbidden and therefore evil; the Kitim, similar to the Rela in abilities, taught that positive emotion were forbidden if their students were to reach their full potential. James guessed that was why the Kitim had yellow, orange, or even red eyes. This made him wonder why he had one yellow-orange eye and one blue-purple eye.

"Hold," the overseeing Rela instructor ordered. "Wrino James, why do you fight with such a fury? You know that emotion only gets in the way."

"Negativity gets in the way, I see that much," James argued. "But how is positive emotion a bad thing?"

"Because if you fight with joy, you will find that you love fighting, and it will corrupt and consume you. If you fight with anger, you will feel hatred toward your target, and it will corrupt and consume you. If you only fight as a last line of defense, you will fight as you should, and you will remain clean and kosher."

"But if the enemy fights with positive or negative and you fight without any emotion, then you'll fall just as quickly as they swing nonstop."

"This is why we must enhance our connection to the World's Aura. If we are one with the World's Aura, we cannot lose."

"Life isn't all about putting all our faith in Aura," James argued. "Sometimes, you've got to use both physical strength _and_ a connection to Aura to come out on top. The enemy won't use just brute attacks, nor will they only use Aura."

"But we will not always fight the Kitim. We might only fight a normal person, or another Rela. That is enough talk out of you, Wrino. We will discuss this later."

James rolled his eyes at his instructor. The man knew that he had a pure soul, regardless of his heritage. He supposed it was because the other students wanted it. Still, it hurt to know that someone would insult him with his own last name. And he was the only student going to Beacon this upcoming semester.

Unlike most teens whose ambitions to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, Rela were more relaxed into their home teachings. Since James didn't agree with the Rela teachings nor the Kitim teachings, he was forced to go to Beacon, supposedly in order to 'teach him the ways of the world, to show him that their ways were corrupt, and the ways of the Rela were the best for him'. Like everything else the Rela taught, James disagreed with their reasoning: the rest of the world didn't know the legend of the Wrino clan, and he could start again in Beacon and Vale. He was to leave in approximately eight weeks. That was eight more weeks of brutal training, vicious insults, and a generally hellish lifestyle. Until then, he was going to train against the Grimm, try to ignore his fellow students, and continue reading his family history in order to find the source of his yellow eye.

* * *

 **End**

 **A/N: I honestly didn't know how I was going to write the last bit of this chapter. I wanted to give him a reason to have what equates to a Sith eye, but I also wanted to give an idea of how similar Aura was to the Force. You know, both are in everything (except for the Grimm), some are capable of manipulating it (or them, in the cases of Star Wars/RWBY crossovers), etc. It makes sense, doesn't it?**

 **I feel all sorts of sad for Rodger, being the brother of Cinder and losing someone like a daughter to him early on. Well, I'll raise him back up at some point.**

 **Tell me how you think about it, and pray that I don't kill my brother. He broke my only good pair of wired headphones, which is the only thing I can use on my computer. I've just got to wait for the superglue to set for now, but if he broke them beyond repair he's gonna die. Before I get carried away, Texas out.**


	4. It All Comes Together

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction

Chapter 3: It All Comes Together

* * *

Anno Tenebrae, 5218, September 22. Night before Freshman Year 'begins'.

Rodger stood on the rooftops over Vale, ready to fight the eventual robbers. He'd read into the news reports and found a pattern: each one involved men in black suits (which he labeled Black Suits) following a man in a white suit with a bowler hat and cane (the White Suit, Bowler, Classy, or Captain). Each one was after insane amounts of Dust, and no Lien was ever stolen from any stores. In fact, the main target was Dust mined from Schnee quarries in the Outskirts, his home territory.

He eventually saw them: about five Black Suits and Classy, latter up ahead smoking a cigar, clearly intent on stealing from From Dust Till Dawn. Earlier, he saw a girl in a black dress enter the same shop, but upon seeing the small red box on her back he knew she was more of a Huntress than a burglar. These guys were obvious; the one guy who stood out in the group matched his findings. He began to draw a medium-sized handheld sledge hammer from his right hip. He preferred to save his Machinamorphism for last in case things got hairy.

He hopped down from his vantage point on the rooftops and onto the streets below, ready to surprise his targets. That was when he saw it: the girl in the dress had drawn her weapon. He so wasn't getting paid for this. Then again, she somehow felt familiar… she did have a megascythe on her person, so maybe that was it. Still, why did he feel like he'd seen her four years ago at Lucy's funeral?

Rodger shook his head at how she brought the fight outside: instead of going through the front door, she shattered the glass window and simply took off her headphones, seeming a bit frustrated at the goons.

"I commend you for your courage and sense of justice," he commented. "But your technique is a bit sloppy for a Huntress."

"Wait, who," she almost panicked. "Oh, me? I'm not exactly a Huntress. Well, not yet anyways, but—."

"I get the point," he stopped her. "Makes a bit of sense, you look too young to be one anyways." This made her blush and cover her… lady parts, for lack of a better term. "I'm not a pervert, I can tell by your face and eyes. Nice color, by the way."

"Are you two just going to chat away the night," Classy interrupted, clearly getting impatient. "Because I've got places to rob, people to kill, and employers to meet. Speaking of which… Get 'em."

Rodger simply smiled, holding his hand in front of the girl. She gave him an odd look.

"Don't worry, Miss," he ordered. "World-class Outskirts survivor here. Lemme show these crazy mooks."

Several Dust rounds penetrated his armored vest beneath his white trench coat, his traditional armor for city settings. Even his pants were ripped in some places, which both infuriated and concerned him. These guys had the worst aim ever, even for simple goons. Thankfully they didn't pierce the Scorcher hide shirt and shorts he wore as under armor.

"Okay, I've never shot a gun and I'm more accurate than that," Rodger shouted before unleashing his hammer's secret: it was actually his megascythe Star Slicer in its compact form. The head of the hammer became the yard-long blade as the steel handle extended about five feet from its initial length of one foot. "Add that to the fact that I'm tired of everything I wear getting torn up within days of me first getting it, and you can see how bad this is gonna hurt."

As he simply beat the Hell out of the Black Suits, he yelled random quotes such as:

"I'm gonna beat you like an African drum!"

"Not much bang for your paycheck, are ya?"

"Your mama can hit harder than you!"

And even…

"You're so weak that a Scorcher won't even look at you funny in fear that you'd cripple over and die! Liven up already!"

Star Slicer glided through the air with ease as pieces of guns and swords flew in the air, as well as their respective owners. The serrated edge of Star Slicer kept getting caught in the triggers of the rifles, but the smooth side was useless when it came to blocking the swords. Not that it really mattered, because when Rodger applied his Solar-elemental Aura to the blade of Star Slicer the weapons clashing against it would simply shatter or get cleaved in half with little to no effort at all. Thankfully, it was harsh against metal yet simply hard against regular Aura, which was probably why those gooks were still alive.

He landed gracefully on the ground, having almost literally using his scythe to swing around the last Black Suit standing, spinning him around until his balance was so bad that he literally ran into a light pole.

"Well, _you_ were worth every cent, truly you were," Classy said as he walked out of the building, a suitcase full of Dust vials and crystals. "Well Red, Weirdo, it's been quite an interesting night. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe _this_ is where we part ways." He aimed his cane at the two scythe users—the bottom opened to reveal a barrel and sight—and pulled the trigger. A simple Dust flare flew out, which the girl avoided quite nimbly for someone who uses such a clunky weapon while Rodger temporarily rolled back in his Grinder Ball form (A/N Battleship Shredder) and reverted immediately after. Boy was he glad; had he been caught in that, he'd have been flung backwards or sneezed and caused a Solar Flare.

The two scythe wielders eventually found him trying to climb to the rooftops via ladder. The two gave chase in their own ways: the girl used the unseen sniper function of her titanic blade to quickly ascend the height, while Rodger used his Machinamorphism to latch on and climb in a split second. Rodger had his forearm as an attached plasma/Taser cannon and was ready to knock the guy out quietly when the girl did the dumb thing and called out to the criminal. Rodger groaned and smacked his forehead and lowered his cannon, annoyed with how weird this girl had gotten in mere seconds.

They were legitimately surprised when a transport ship arrived and scooped up Bowler, hovering by the rooftops as he prepared to bring the final blow.

"End of the line, brats," he yelled over the whine of the engines, and threw down a red Dust crystal. Rodger switched his cannon to kill and took aim at the closer engine when the guy yelled that, proceeding to raise his Aura as a super-dense shield around himself and the girl. Bowler took aim and fired at the crystal, detonating it just before something stopped the explosion from reaching Rodger and the girl.

"Oh, look at that," Rodger complained, getting angry at the situation. "More people here to screw up my job. Perfect."

"Hey, I didn't screw anything up," the girl growled at him as the Huntress took care of the rest of the situation. "If anything, it was _him_ who screwed it up. And what do you mean, 'your job'?"

"That shopkeeper was paying me to prevent this sort of thing from happening," Rodger explained, showing slight annoyance with the criminal. "I swear, it was a billion times easier back in the Outskirts."

" _Easier_? Life over there is impossible, even for Grimm. How can you say something like that?"

"Because I've lived there for about four years," he stated as though it were obvious. "Where else would I get Scorcher hide for under-armor? And it's not impossible; you've just gotta know what you're doing."

"Why would you even want to live there to begin with?"

"Why would _you_ want to use such a heavy weapon? That thing's gotta be, like, twenty pounds."

"Same goes with your Semblance." He gave her a funky look before looking down at his cannon.

"Oh! This isn't a Semblance. It's actually a combination of Aura and body to transform the physical. They're called Morphisms, and mine is Machinamorphism. As a matter of fact, mine is probably the most powerful out there."

"Then what is your Semblance? You've gotta have one by now."

"I don't use it."

"Why not?"

That was about when they found themselves in an interrogation room somewhere near where the Huntress worked. Rodger was hunched over, thinking they'd figured out that his sister was to blame for tons of things and they were here to find out where she was. The girl was right next to him, somewhat worried herself.

"Calm down, Miss," Rodger told her. "You'll just make it worse for us."

"Aren't you worried," she demanded. "We got thrown in here for beating the bad guys and arguing."

"It's not like we're going to prison, you know. We're in an interrogation room. Believe me; I've been in one before. It comes just before prison."

"That's not helpful…. Wait, how do you know all of this? Are you some sort of criminal?"

"Not necessarily. Feel guilty for things, yes. Actually guilty of them, no. Arrested for them, definitely not. Cause of them… depends on your perspective, but technically not. I've just been asked questions in one for Intel and the like, and Dad was a Criminal Investigator."

"Intel? What do you mean?"

"On a criminal. They thought I was tied to the crime itself, but later realized I tried to stop it. Still, I guess I _was_ tied to the perpetrator."

The steel door opened and the two lowered their heads to the table, folding their hands and putting them either on the table or in front of their mouth. Rodger knew who it was: the same Huntress who tried to stop _his_ target, _his_ job. That wouldn't go well on his resume. The angry woman paced around the room, glaring at the two like an angry cat, before speaking.

"I hope you two realize that what you did tonight was dangerous," the Huntress growled, further annoying Rodger. He knew what he did was dangerous, but he literally lived in unlivable conditions for four years and here he was, talking, breathing, and… breathing. He wasn't really _living_ to begin with, not since Lucy…. "You put yourselves and others in great danger."

"But they started it," the Huntress wannabe argued. Rodger simply rolled his eyes.

"I've done worse and come out on top," Rodger stated, knowing no one would believe him.

"If it were up to me," the Huntress ignored them. "I would send you home with a pat on the back…. And a slap on the wrist."

"Go ahead," Rodger looked away, uncaring for such a stupid punishment. He honestly didn't care if the punishment was death; he'd been living a personal Hell for what seemed like four eternities, and it didn't show any signs of stopping any time soon. In fact, death would be a blessing in his eyes. "I don't even live in Vale to begin with."

"Oh, really," the girl demanded. Rodger glared at her with a Scorcher eye, scaring the daylights out of her.

"I've been through things you couldn't even imagine and not only came out on top, but came out without a single scratch, not even a cell touched. Nothing you say or do to me can have any effect on me."

"But," the Huntress interrupted their argument. "There's someone here who would like to see you two."

Enter really creepy old guy, carrying a plate of cookies, a cane, and a mug of coffee. Somewhat scantily-clad Huntress with a riding crop for a weapon simply stood by. Little Red Riding Hood looked in awe at the old guy. Rodger felt as though he was the real misfit here, and he was in a group of them.

"Ruby Rose," the old man addressed the girl first, as obvious as it was. He was probably one of those horny old guys who liked underage girls. He obviously complimented her eyes, creeping the now-named Ruby out, before turning on Rodger. "And Rodger Fall."

"I know, I know," the young man interrupted. "You've got Lime eyes or whatever. That's real creepy, y'know."

"I see you've survived your guilt trip in the Outskirts," the man corrected, surprising both Ruby and the Huntress. Rodger's eyes changed to Scorcher eyes; the old man remained stoic. "You've even gotten a few things out of it; hopefully your guilt has left as well."

"Not by a long shot," Rodger said, leaning forward as his eyes reverted to normal. "How much do you know about me? And how did you find out about my time in the Outskirts? Most importantly, how did you find out about _that_?" The man smiled.

"I have my sources," he said simply. "And as for _that_ , you were counted as a hero for weeks before you left without a trace. No parents, no nearby siblings, not even a single friend; no one outside of a cousin and his newlywed knew where you were.

"And as for you, Miss Rose," he moved on. "Where did you learn how to do this?" He held out a screen Rodger only recently learned was a Scroll, which displayed a video of Ruby fighting off Grimm like a Huntress would.

"S-Signal Academy," Ruby stuttered. The old man went accordingly and set down the plate of cookies. In a few moments the cookies were gone as the guy mentioned a 'dusty old crow'. Ruby had to swallow first, but the eventually responded appropriately: "That's my uncle Qrow. He took me under his wing when I was little. I was complete garbage before he took me in; now I'm all like—." She demonstrated this in the funkiest way possible, but Rodger didn't argue; her innocence was still intact, and he didn't want hers to be taken away as ferociously as his was. In fact, he was still trying to pick up what was left of his younger self, to try to rebuild what was broken by his sister and the thugs she hired to essentially break or kill him.

"I've heard of someone like that before," Rodger admitted. "Took a peek at master scythe users in Vale before coming here, see where I stood. I hear he's one of the best in the entire world. I would say I could beat him, but I'm pretty sure he could do me over with me cheating and his hands tied behind his back."

"Well, I wouldn't say _that_ ," Ruby thought aloud. "I mean, Qrow's good and all, but even he can't infuse his scythe with Aura like you did back there. I've even seen the best scythe user out there, and he never fights as good as you did. Then again, I doubt he was trying…"

"Well I know him," the old man said. "And when he tries, he can be better than what you both displayed. The reasons for _your_ case are obvious, but I highly doubt Mr. Fall was even trying to stay awake in that scuffle earlier."

Rodger went with it and hung his head, snoring rather loudly. A riding crop to his neck broke his joke, earning the Huntress a death glare.

"Can't take a joke, I see," Rodger mumbled angrily. "Use that on me again and I'll snap it like a twig."

"Do either of you know who I am," the old man asked, still seeming a little too polite. This time, Ruby surprised Rodger with her response.

"You're Headmaster Ozpin," she answered. "The headmaster at Beacon." Rodger almost fell out of his seat in total shock.

"WHOA, what," he shouted, totally confused and surprised. "You, the one guy I thought was the creepy old guy stereotype, are the HEADMASTER? Of BEACON? The best school in VALE? And you're visiting with us?" Ozpin nodded. "Wow, I am such an idiot."

"Who doesn't know who Professor Ozpin is," Ruby wondered aloud. She looked at Rodger fiddling with a pistol, accidentally shooting himself between the eyes with a rubber bullet, before deciding that she definitely knew her answer.

"I've been watching you both for some time now," Ozpin admitted to the two teens. "I'm surprised you don't know each other. Nevertheless, I've turned the idea of letting you two into Beacon in my head for several months now, and I believe I've reached a decision." He leaned forward. "Would you like to train at my school?"

Ruby's world almost exploded at hearing this; Rodger's detonated with unprecedented ferocity.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHO NEEDS SCHOOL? WE'RE IN A TIME WHERE GRIMM ROAM RAMPANT AND YOU WANT TO SEND A KID WHO'S SURVIVED THE OUTSKIRTS TO FREAKING SCHOOL? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?"

"With you, Mister Fall, you don't really have an option here outside of kicking it off on your own," Ozpin stated bluntly. "Your sister ruined what was left of your home while you were absent. She even killed your cousin and your oldest sister."

Something in Rodger snapped, and he was almost instantly no longer human. His eyes were green, massive, and slit in the pupils. Even his skin started to turn reptilian, just like the Scorchers were rumored to be.

" _Where is she_ ," the boy demanded in a much deeper, darker voice. Ozpin showed no fear even as Ruby and the Huntress both flinched in almost pure fear.

"Even if you knew, you would be unable to defeat her," he replied. "You still need to develop your Semblance if you wish to have a chance against her. Our professors at Beacon can help you with that. In fact, word has come through an ally that someone who has yet to unlock his Semblance is coming here."

Rodger crossed his arms and gave out a small 'humph'. His apparent dark side faded before he responded.

"You say that as if I need any 'special training'. I have the most advanced Machinamorphism on the planet. I'm positive I can defeat her—."

Immediately, Ozpin was cloaked in green energy as he transformed his finger into a titanic modern cannon. Rodger's jaw dropped in pure awe as Ozpin reverted the transformation. He then unleashed something like Rodger's own Semblance and created a small star in the palm of his hand. Said star was shrouded in rose petals and began flying around the room before disappearing in a puff of green Aura. Rodger's entire head melted as Ruby fell over in her chair. Even the Huntress was stuck in amazement at the master Huntsman's feat.

"I may be no master myself," Ozpin reminded the two teens. "But I have far more experience than everyone in this room combined. Believe you me, the two of you need far more training if you wish to be as advanced as I showed you."

"Oh, wow," Rodger mumbled as he picked himself up with Ruby. "Pure Aura manipulation. Never seen anything like that, like, ever. That was so cool. Sure, Grandad could've done so much better, but he's the creator of Machinamorphism."

"Do you have an answer for me," Ozpin said impatiently. "Students will be arriving via airship tomorrow, so I need it tonight."

"Count me in," Ruby almost shouted, proceeding to thank him incessantly. Rodger was a bit more reluctant to agree.

"So long as I can beat Cinder by the end of it all," Rodger told Ozpin, "I'll go."

"I can't necessarily say with certainty you will be able to defeat her after your four years here," Ozpin informed him. "But I can guarantee that you will stand a much better chance against her than you did four and a half years ago."

"Don't remind me of then. Fine, I'll go to your school, full ride. My pack is going to their schools pretty soon, anyways."

"I figured I would hear that from you. Ms. Goodwitch, would you be so kind as to escort them out? I have another appointment or two."

* * *

After the two younger teens were out of the room, Ozpin let the next group in: the missing Schnee and a young man with a navy hoodie, white armor, and a sword in sheath at his side. Outside of his hair and eyes, he was the spitting image of his father.

"Found this kid looking for me, sir," Arctico said to Ozpin. "Says he needs help with his brother. Something about the guy killing his parents and three of his sisters."

"You mean you don't recognize him, Arctico," Ozpin asked the Winter King. "Look at his face, and tell me that doesn't strike you as familiar."

"I did, and the timing doesn't add up," said the cold swordsman. "I find out Marron is dead two minutes before this brat shows up with the man's sword, says his brother killed 'em all."

"You have become rather dense, haven't you? This is Jaune Arc, not Topaz. Of course Marron would entrust the ancient blade to his youngest, more knightly son."

"I can hear you two," Jaune interrupted the two. "I guess I should say why I'm here. I need training so I can bring Topaz back, and I was hoping one of his old friends could help me."

"You came to the right man, Jaune," Ozpin reassured the young man. "Marron trusted me with his life, so I see it fitting that his youngest son does the same. The best I can do for you is to let you into my school; however, in order to do so you will require a set of transcripts, if you have them."

"Kid does look trained," Arctico commented, "But I doubt he went to school. Else, he wouldn't have someone else's sword; he'd have built his own."

"And Marron was the Educational Overseer of Signal for six years," Ozpin reminded the Schnee. "Do you really think he would've let his children go untaught? If I'm not mistaken, he prepared homeschooling transcripts for his youngest in case he was unable to send him there; I'm surprised he even needed them. And in terms of swords, Marron never built a forge for his own house, simply so then nothing drastic happened to Crocea Mors."

"How do you two know Dad," Jaune demanded out of nowhere. "And how do you know about his sword?"

"In due time, Jaune," Ozpin answered. "Let's hope you never need to know."

"You said something about getting me into some sort of school," Jaune returned to that topic. "I'm figuring that attendance will be somewhat pricy."

"Attendance is not what is expensive," was the answer. "Room and board, tuition, and a few other fees here and there, are the real prices, and even those are minimal. In fact, you don't even need to pay up front or even during your time there."

"You can't be serious," Arctico seemed to whine. Ozpin nodded.

"The other option is for you to train him personally," Ozpin reminded Arctico. "That would involve a rather… elongated talk, to put it lightly. Of course, I wouldn't mind if you did take him under your wing; after all, you do owe his father and I small debt."

"Fine, take him," Arctico snapped. "But I'm certainly teaching the boy to forge his own weapon. He can't be using his father's blade too often, lest… 'it' take hold of him."

"I went to the monument last month," Jaune told the two adults. "The one where he found Crocea Mors. I read the inscription; it has a curse on it, same with those weird gem things he found with it. I've had Crocea for so long it's already begun to affect me. Worrisome, yes; too much to bear, not so much."

Ozpin and Arctico shared a concerned look. Perhaps it was already too late. Jaune needed a new sword or training on how to properly use 'Yellow Death' soon, or it would possibly come to the worst. Still, his astounding courage overpowered the fear the blade placed into him.

"Still," Jaune continued. "Thanks for the help. I guess I'll see you there, Professor."

"Headmaster, actually," Ozpin corrected him. "Although it is impressive that you've never heard of me and yet know my name."

"He told me where he was taking me," Jaune stated bluntly. Arctico scratched his head nervously, possibly knowing what was coming next. Ozpin gave the white-haired knight a blank stare filled with blatant unpleasantness. Perhaps it couldn't be helped, but Arctico was certainly adamant with making things harder for his old friend. "Well, I guess I'll be going. Leave you two to, err… argue, or whatever you'll probably do once I leave. Again, thanks for the help."

* * *

Sure enough, Jaune was right: Arctico's pleas for mercy could be heard throughout the police station as Ozpin simply continued giving that cold, blank stare until he stopped pleading. Things instantly went to Hell afterwards when Glynda reentered and Arctico got Hell after she saw him in the room. If only Marron could've seen it.

Speaking of whom, his spirit continued going through the transcripts given by thousands of prospective students so he could tell Ozpin who was clear and who wasn't. His soul wouldn't be at rest until either Jaune set Crocea Mors in the place of the memorial statue in the cemetery or his spirit was the last one to use it. That was the only way to truly break the curse: the user had to be the last one to use it or the blade had to be set on their grave, or their soul would be restless until then.

In any case, he had decided before he died to do something productive with his extended time, as he intentionally told Jaune to take it so then he could explain things afterwards. Sure enough, Jaune did, and he was only looking for an opening to start telling his son the truth about those precious gemstones, and the Knights of Avalon, the first knights after whom all other knights followed.

Marron yawned, confusing him as his soul didn't really need sleep. He supposed it was because it's been around half a year since he 'died'. How he missed his daughters and wife in the afterlife, but he missed his surviving family more. Especially Jaune and Topaz; those two boys had been the pride and joy of his life. He pushed his sorrows and regrets aside, as he knew he'd be with them all eventually. For now, he had work to do.

 **End**

* * *

 **A/N: Man, that took a bit longer than expected. I wanted a way to tell you readers about the whole 'Marron's not dead' thing, as well as sneak in a bit about Rodger's rage towards his sister, but I wanted to ensure that this got out first. Anyways, is anyone else as excited for Volume 4 as I am? If all goes according to what I'm thinking, this entire story is officially non-cannon. Well, at least the 'Jaune Arc is a legendary knight' thing I've got going. If RT makes him some ultimate sword-wielding armored badass (like he really looks right now), then I have a chance of losing my mind. If they bring Pyrrha back, I will officially lose my sh*t and go on with life a much happier person. Before I go on a rant/tangent, Texas out.**

 **P.S: I have a new YouTube series out focusing on Stellaris, a PC game dedicated to space civilizations. If you're into that sort of stuff, then check it out. I pre-apologize for the audio being bad, but at least check out the video and its next episode. Stellaris will be my first series with a weekly upload, so keep an eye out for that. I might do a 'my thoughts' follow-up video to the first episode where I pretty much state my thoughts during the making of that video, which will probably be the funniest thing you'll see all week (except for Jim Carrey, who is outright hilarious). NOW, Texas out.**


	5. Beacon, at Last

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction

Chapter IV: Beacon, at Last

* * *

 _Anno Tenebrae 5218, Autumn Equinox._

Rodger did find himself falling over when he boarded the plane, as Ruby warned before the two boarded. Technically it wasn't a 'plane': it was more of a Dust-powered passenger airship designed to defy gravity and look like a beached whale in the meantime while somehow moving forward. Some teen boy with long brown hair tied in a bun looked like he was uncomfortable being on such a ship, as he was pacing around as though the idea of being in the sky scared him. Ruby was basically being strangled between her sister's massive assets as she congratulated her on making it to Beacon. Jaune Arc looked like he was about to lose his lunch on such a fast airship, probably raised on a farm of some kind. Only one kid didn't look like he was having any breed of excitement, positive or negative: Derrek, now known as Apex.

His right eye had healed after all that time, but he certainly didn't like showing off its colorless appearance. He was still working on regaining his sight in that eye, but the retina and iris didn't seem to want to grow out. Not that it was a bad thing, necessarily—he'd gotten used to using the Scout as an alternative, the eyepatches when he slept and the bandanna around his eye when going out. Still, it didn't help his feeling of betrayal, his hatred of Frisky and her stupid boyfriend, that annoying, pestering, deadly desire for vengeance. Simply thinking about it made his trigger finger itch for something to kill.

His casual appearance didn't help his complexion one bit. He wore white armor along his forearms, calves, and groin regions, a light magnetic Aura field generator covered with matching white armor on his back, a red shoulder pad on his dominant (left) arm with the insignia of the Scouts Research Division (an eye in front of two pistols) scratched out with a single knife blade mark. Under all of that, he wore a gray cover-all suit designed specifically for his armor; after he was betrayed, he bleached his previous black cover-all until it was pure white and dyed it gray. He did have a helmet, but he kept it at his side with the other half of his Scout and the rest of his armor. Other than more of the gray cover-all suits, his plasma-repeater rifle, a couple of dressy suits, and a bit of money from legal freelance work all in a red, white, and starred-blue duffle bag, he had nothing with him but the clothes on his back and the armor on his body.

As he looked around, he found a source of powerful natural Aura in the form of a young man he hadn't seen enter the airship. The boy wore a brown cloak, an off-white tunic with a brown belt, and some unseen navy and pale blue armor. His weapons were simple cylinders with gemstones, batteries, and plasma generators in odd places behind a set of magnets; the concept was very well-designed, but the construction was questionable at best. With his Target Sight, Apex could see that the boy had a Liaison—one yellow eye, one navy-purple eye. One of his 'comrades' had pointed him out and said "Be careful around him, he's been through a lot and really wants to kill something at this point; pretty tough ally, even tougher enemy".

The strange man noticed Apex staring and slowly came over. He leaned against the same railing Apex leaned against and crossed his arms.

"So Hawk told you about me," the man said with a somewhat bright tone of voice. "Figures, he told me about you too. Former SRD sniper, right? Apex, is it? Name's Jim, Jim Wrino, and a Knight of Rela."

"I knew Hawk hid something from me," Apex muttered slightly angrily. "Derrek Churchill-Manchester's the name. Nice meetin' you, Jim." Jim nodded, smiling brightly. Behind his yellow right eye, Derrek saw a dark side similar to his own but much more quick to react and uninhibited by natural Aura.

* * *

 _On the other side of the ship…_

"Of course I'm excited," Ruby argued with her sister, trying so hard to convey her true thoughts and feelings to her sister. "I just… I don't want everyone thinking I'm special or something."

Rodger almost burst out laughing at this. Yang gave him a sidelong glance before he instantly went serious and gave the sisters a similar glance.

"If you're special, then I'm an alien," Rodger commented. "Trust me. You advanced two years ahead of your time: I could've gone five had my sister…" he looked down with remorse for something, "had my life, actually, not taken a turn for the worse."

"How can _your_ life be bad," Yang demanded. "You look like you're just some sort of adventurous pipsqueak."

"Well, let's see here," Rodger began counting his experiences off on his fingers. "My sister killed my parents and the _dog_. Because of this, my second sister killed herself and my third sister has a serious addiction. _Then_ , it turns out that my sister hired thugs to make my life a living H-E-Double-Hockey sticks, and succeeded in killing off the best friend I could ever ask for. The cops point to me after the funeral, and I go to the Outskirts in hopes that it would all end; turns out, that's just the beginning. Some of the few humans out there take me in, start to make me feel better, and proceed to try to _sacrifice my soul to some HUGE Dragon Grimm_. Then, I'm reminded of my Grandpa when I fight back with _no_ education, _no_ formal training, and _no_ combat experience whatsoever, with one of the most advanced Aura-manipulation techniques out there. Do you _WANT_ me to continue?"

"As long as I can forget that we're moving, yes," a blond boy said as he stumbled up. He had several pieces of white armor, a black hoodie, blue jeans, and rather long hair with blue eyes. This fellow had two swords and a shield-sheath, which confused Rodger slightly with the logic behind it all.

"Yeesh," Rodger muttered under his breath. "Is that motion sickness or a serious migraine?"

"First causing the second," the blond man said. Rodger only now noticed how seriously in over his head he was. Both blonds were taller than he, the blonde brute about an inch taller than the Fall while the blond knight stood at an astounding 6'2 wearing armor which was clearly too small for him. Both were obviously older than him, as he was only about 15 now.

"GYAAARGH," a surprised cry emitted from the other side of the airship. Rodger looked over to see—.

"Oh sweet Jesus save me," Rodger muttered as a white-armored sniper-class man was sent flying in his direction with the force of about two charging elephants. It was a wonder how the glass on the airship didn't break.

* * *

"Bloody Hell, man," the sniper, Derrek Churchill-Manchester said as he rolled his neck in pain. "What was all the throwin' me round for?"

"It was fun," the laser-sword wielding Jim Wrino returned, smiling the whole way. "Besides, I've kept that one pent up way too long. Still got some left even now. Want me to demonstrate?"

"Only if you'll promise to keep it focused on the Grimm," Rodger mumbled as he popped his left shoulder back in place. "And that Force-thing you did? Not. Cool."

"So. Totally. Worth it."

"Oh, so me punching you across Vale City wouldn't be half as cool or worth it," Yang demanded the Rela and survivor.

"If you could do it in one shot while going the other way just as fast, that would be epic," Rodger stated bluntly. "Just don't use me as the dummy: use me as the target for the dummy to hit. Use this maniac as your unfortunate victim."

Ruby chuckled before a lightbulb popped in her head.

"Ooh! Maybe I could race him," the redhead almost yelled excitedly. Derrek glared at Jim from the corner of his eye.

"I might pay good money to see that," the former SDR sniper said. "No really, I might."

"Remind me why you're threatening violence to another student," a young woman with white hair in a matching dress said as Yang easily tugged the girl's luggage along.

"Because he was a major bonehead back there," Rodger commented.

"Shit-skull, if you ask me," Apex added. This earned him a whop to the back of the skull from the white-haired heiress.

"Watch that language," the woman chewed out the ex-sniper. "You may be a former soldier, but this is one of the best combat academies in the world. Such vulgarity should not be tolerated, and certainly not as much as I do."

"Yes'm. My apologies, Miss Schnee."

"And remind me what your pa's business does," Rodger asked. Ruby whispered something about Dust and energy and Rodger immediately understood. "That's why you have so many suitcases."

"They're specially-designed Dust Vial carry-on luggage cases," Weiss scoffed. Rodger simply rolled his eyes as Jaune eventually caught up.

"Sorry, I'm back," he said, tugging along not one, not two, but four luggage racks with what looked like—.

"Is that a paracord," Ruby asked. Jaune shook his head.

"Calf-rope," he explained. "It's basically your average cattle rope coated with a quarter-inch layer of elastic polyester so the calf won't feel irritated."

"I'm surprised you know so many big terms from your country life," Weiss commented on Jaune's knowledge.

"You gotta remember," Rodger said. "This kid was homeschooled by an adventurer."

"Explorer," Jaune corrected. "And he was the best of his time, too. Still is, I guess."

"You can't be serious," Weiss complained. "This farm boy Huntsman wannabe cannot be the son of Marron Arc."

"And you can't be the heiress to the biggest Dust company in the world," Jaune returned as he dragged what equated to 1320lbs on rusty wheels with impossible ease. The kid wasn't even breaking a sweat with four heavy carts whereas Yang was having a hard time with the one cart. Yang glared at him for his impressive feat as he marched ahead even of Weiss, who was walking slower than the blond boy to keep pace with Yang. "Seriously, you think just because I've come from a great man means that I can't have humble beginnings? Dad retired before my sisters were born, about a decade or so before I was even considered."

"I mean seriously," Weiss continued, ignoring the blond knight's statement. "Who would want such a lowly imbecile to be their son? Especially the last one before his death?"

"That's how my father started, and he turned out great," Jaune mentioned. "Same with his father, and his father before him. I'm just here to continue the legacy. Have a problem with it? Deal with it."

Everyone was silent before Jim started laughing.

"Looks like Coldy here just got a piping hot serving of _BURNED_ ," James exaggerated, laughing the whole way. Let's just say that he got a serving of something painful as well.

* * *

The small group finally arrived at their destination just before the Headmaster started his speech.

"I'll… keep this brief," Ozpin stated before continuing with his speech. "You've gathered here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills; and when you are finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, a need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

The headmaster walked off stage, only to be replaced by Goodwitch with instructions:

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she instructed. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. _Be ready_. You are dismissed."

"I don't think I can handle initiation anymore," Jim whimpered after his painful beating.

"Deal with it, little man," Rodger growled at the immature amateur Rela warrior. "Legend has it that the Wrino Clan is one of the strongest sets of Rela masters out there, same with the Kitim lords. In fact, it even says that they're so strong because Rela and Kitim joined forces once, and out came the Wrino Clan. Both Rela and Kitim blood in you. Ruled by emotion, but avoiding the negative unless necessary; whining about getting served and thinking you'll die in initiation in a top-level academy is pretty negative, and not the necessary kind either. So _MAN UP_ and make your blood proud."

This not-so-passionate speech somehow moved the apprentice, though probably in a more negative way than intended: Jim immediately dusted himself off, ignited his Aura and healed his wounds, and pulled out his Scroll to search his family history. Rodger rolled his eyes and took the device; after some minor tweaking and twiddling, the device was returned with the entire Wrino family history uploaded. Jim's eyes lit up and he ran like lightning to the ballroom to do… something. Rodger had no idea, neither did Rodger or anyone else.

"Did you just make that up," Weiss demanded. Rodger shrugged.

"His heritage part, I looked it up as I went along," he explained. "It comes with Machinamorphism, Grandad's kind. The rest, not so much."

"So you _did_ make it up?"

"Some of it yes, but not all of it. Now let's follow him and pray to God he hasn't done anything crazy."

Jaune felt like Rodger was being serious. The only problem was, in the modern theology of generalized Mythodeism there were several different gods, none of which Jaune believed were actually 'gods'; Rodger had just referred to a singular God, as was the case of Nazism and their belief that some guy called 'Hitler' was the only god out there. Was Rodger one of them, or were there more monotheistic religions out there?

* * *

 _In the Ballroom that night…_

The guys went in after the girls, as was the case expected by Professor Port, a plump old man who believed that boys and men alike should show courtesy to young women their age. Despite being somewhat perverse, he did have a good point. Jaune caught Rodger and he talking about something religious in nature, and decided to sneak into the conversation.

"… I just find it funny, you know," Rodger was saying. "These 'gods' in Mythodeism were once people. Really, it should be something along the lines of 'once a god, always a god', you know?"

"What I find even funnier is the Hindu belief," Port mentioned. "They thought that there were only 'powerful beasts' and no deities, then explained the world as sitting on a turtle, in turn sitting on an elephant or something of the sort. Hmm… I still can't wrap my head around everything."

"I guess it's good I didn't understand a word of that," Rodger stated. He was silent for a moment.

"I've found a strange pattern in most religions nowadays," Port pondered aloud. "Outside of the occasional rare one with only death and destruction or free salvation, most are based on earning your way to Heaven or the other way. I've only seen one with a strange combination of all three."

"Funny you say that, I actually ran across a priest from that weird one you mentioned," Rodger remembered. "It was at a funeral about five years ago. Said something about the girl being held in limbo for something, then gave me a cross necklace. I ran across him in the Outskirts a few times later, and he preached me the whole story from heart. He mentioned something about there once being a book for the whole thing, but most if not all copies were burned or hidden away. Next thing you know, even I'm preaching about Jesus."

Jaune felt a burning sensation in his chest at that name. He felt a dark power around him now, and it did not like that name. The source, of all things to be a source, was his father's sword. Jaune immediately decided to ask about it.

"Dad never told me about anything like that," Jaune said, surprising the two. Apparently, they were thinking he was just silently agreeing or arguing with them.

"The priest, the cross, the book, or the religion," Rodger asked.

"Ehm, the latter-most." The source of darkness was getting uneasy, almost ready to pull Jaune out of his own body.

"Well, the whole thing is pretty old, about fifty-two hundred years old or so today. It was based around—. Wait a sec, your sword has Grimm mist around it."

"I thought I felt something. That's why I asked: when you said that name, it just came out of nowhere from Crocea Mors."

"I'm glad you did, because that's a cursed sword," Professor Port stated bluntly, his voice now almost at a whisper. "If I'm not mistaken, that is the soul-stealing Avalonian sword judging by the name. When the user is killed, his soul is placed in limbo if he is not the last one to use it or the sword is not placed on his grave. If your father was the last user, then that means he might still be here if not alive."

"How do you know so much," Jaune asked the professor. "And if he's in limbo, can I talk to him or bring him back?"

"Marron Arc was once my protégé," the old professor explained. "He came to me with his findings after finding old Avalon. And to answer your second question, you can't necessarily bring him back, but I believe you can speak to him. When you're asleep, call his name, and he'll talk to you. Or maybe that's another sword he brought back, I don't remember. Regardless, this goes nowhere."

Jaune's mind was boiling at this point. He needed time to ponder what really happened to his father, and also needed to figure out what his father found at Avalon now. Too many things were going on for his brain to catch up properly. Fortunately, it was around this time that the girls had finally finished changing and were flooding out of the girls rooms. He immediately grabbed his simple bag and headed for the men's room.

* * *

Derrek took a long shower after a long wait. He made sure to scrub the dirt and grime out of his wartail before exiting. It had been almost three months since he'd gotten a chance to wash all of it out, and was reaching a point where the whole style needed to be redone. The whole thing was traditional in his lineage, a soldier growing his hair out—the longer it was, the more experience was shown until one could tie it all back in a wartail. Derrek still needed to figure out how long it was, but he'd managed to finally get it past his shoulders.

After drying off, Derrek put on a white muscle shirt and black shorts with a white SRD logo printed on the knee. While not proud of it, they were all he had for 'sleepwear' as the plump man called it. Besides, the things were well-worn whereas SRD subjects were supposed to keep them clean and tidy.

"… Look man," said the sharp voice of Rodger Fall. "All I'm saying is that you look like the kind of guy for it." Apex could hear Jaune disagree by the aura around him.

"A Mohawk and a wartail," Jaune questioned Rodger's logic. "Maybe it'd look good on you, but a guy like me shouldn't be seen with that sort of stuff."

"Well, maybe just a goatee," Rodger urged. "Whatever style you want, it doesn't matter. You'd look great with a goatee. Even just a mustache would give you that… that _edge_ , you know what I'm saying?"

"I do," Jaune said. "But the combination of a Mohawk and a wartail just doesn't seem right to me. Actually, it sounds kind of weird to me."

"Why're we talking about hairstyles like girls," Derrek asked bluntly. Rodger shrugged as Jaune turned to find a shower stall.

"I was just saying, it's an option," Rodger complained. The sniper rolled his eyes before walking up to a mirror and taking off his scout. Sure enough, his right eye was starting to see clear again, but it still couldn't read fine print for the moment. The pupil was slit like a serpent's, dark green around it with a huge iris finally ending in lime green. Though foreign in appearance, it almost reminded him of his Legendary Faunus form.

" _Legendary Faunus are simply the Auras of powerful ancient creatures manifest in humans such as yourself_ ," his father had explained the phenomenon when Derrek was younger. " _That doesn't make you any less human than me or anyone else; you're just a bridge between Faunus and Humans._ " Two weeks after saying that, the Argonne guard volunteered his only son into the service of the Scouts Research Division of the Schnee Dust Company, explaining to the officers taking him to 'be careful: this one is a Legendary Nine-Tails. It'll kill you if you let it roam free.'

"Nine-Tails, huh," Jaune observed from in his shower stall. Derrek looked the Arc child in the eye as Rodger entered his own stall and turned the water on. "I've heard a lot about your kind. It's sad, how everyone mistreats Legendary Faunus. Just like how they treat runts and outcasts: like we're not human."

"Finally," Rodger shouted, startling the two. "Oh, man this feels good. It's been what, three, four years since I've had a shower? Sure beats swimming in a hot stream."

"Don't tell me you skinny-dipped then," Derrek begged.

"Oh no, I never did that," Rodger almost shouted. "I had to swim in my armor so no Stream Razes could get me. And don't get me started on those things; I had to replace my cape twice because of them."

"I guess some things just can't be replaced, can they," Derrek muttered to himself. Jaune nodded as he turned on the hot water. "So what happened to your folks?"

"Sis got fascinated with Grimm or something," Rodger said bluntly. "Next thing I knew, I was fighting for my life with an out-of-control Semblance and basic knowledge of a Morphism against a pretty powerful Obsidian Glass Semblance. After getting knocked into a coma, a little girl who had just become my second cousin was killed in an explosion meant for me."

"Topaz heard about Crocea Mors," Jaune explained his side. "I guess Dad told him the full story, because the next thing I know everyone in the house but Topaz and myself are dead. Dad gives me Crocea Mors, my fear and lack thereof swapped places, and I'm stuck fighting my brother with a fear curse from a four millennia-old sword."

"Well, at least you got the curse part right," Rodger commented. Jaune held up his hand in a 'shut up' kind of way.

"My head is ready to blow right now," the Arc child said. "I need some time to let it soak. We can continue later when I understand things a bit more."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Derrek admitted. "Why don't we just drop this and talk about girls or something. I hear that most talk about that."

"How about I plot my revenge on my sister," Rodger said all-too excited.

"How about no," Jaune shut both down instantly as he turned off the water and began drying off. Derrek sighed and began trimming down his faint beard into something at least more handsome.

The young men exited the men's room about five minutes later. Ruby, Yang, and Weiss had already gotten tired of each other's presences and went off to bed. Only two initiates stayed in their normal clothes: James and some other guy Rodger couldn't place or recognize. Rodger lied down on his own little spot and dozed off after thirty minutes, met by a dream where he met Lucy once again. This time, Lucy had something strange to share with Rodger.

 **End**

* * *

 **A/N: That took a bit too long to write in my opinion. I had a tiny bit of Writer's Block in the midst of that, as well as someone looking for a Beta Reader. Also, I had classes for a job I do intend on keeping. All in all: I have nothing but excuses, good and bad. So, sorry if this doesn't make much sense. Especially the part with Jaune, but I will try to explain in later chapters (aka a tiny bit next chapter). Expect some crazy dream sequences from Jaune's point of view, and maybe some strange ones from Rodger and Derrek here and there.**

 **NOTE: the Nine-Tails Aura doesn't have green irises, but there is another Japanese movie monster with just that (in the modern movies). Consider that a hint, genius points to the one(s) who guess who/what it is correctly.**

 **BTW, that 'kid' still wearing their armor plays a very important part in the story. Also, I'm gonna be blunt, James is a blatant add-in from Star Wars; however, I did not make him enough of a Star Wars add-in to make this story a full-on crossover. In fact, Jaune and Old Avalon are the main points of this story.**

 **Too many hints. Time to say g'bye. SO** _ **adios.**_ **Texas, signing out.**


	6. Initiates

Avalon Reborn

A RWBY Fanfiction

Chapter V: Initiates

* * *

 _Anno Tenebrae 5218, Autumn Equinox/September 24_

Jaune had a strange dream that night. He did as Professor Port suggested and called on his father, and it actually worked. Either that or he was lucid dreaming, which he rarely if ever did.

* _Dream Sequence_ *

" _It's about time you called," Marron Arc said as he leaned against a wall Jaune could've sworn didn't exist before. The father and son were in a black room, the same color as the wall Marron leaned against. Marron's arms were crossed almost impatiently._

" _I hoped that would work," Jaune said blankly, crossing his own arms. "It's about time you told me what you withheld about Avalon."_

" _Well, I thought you'd never ask," Marron said excitedly. The scenery changed into a faded color memory, presumably from the old explorer. Marron and about twenty others entered the grounds of Avalon, which was a ruined stone village with a towering stone castle. In the town square stood a stone obelisk with several ruined pieces of armor, seven swords, and seven gemstones._

" _This was old Avalon," Marron explained to his son. "I already knew about Christianity at that time, but I had no idea that Avalon wasn't a Christian village." The scene again changed to a library, with Marron sitting in an ancient wooden chair and reading a book he'd apparently found in a tomb or crypt. "Apparently Avalon was built during the Protestant Reformation, a time when the Catholic Church was at its most corrupt and a young monk by the name of Martin Luther reformed his part in Germany and split away. A group of Protestants thought they had converted some gypsies to Lutheran Christianity, the one I first found, and were tricked into building Avalon for them. The gypsies murdered the Protestants and turned Avalon into a pagan kingdom. Crocea Mors is an angel killer sword, as translated from the journal of the pagan sacrificial priest: 'Death by Greed is the name of this Sword. Spirits have entered the Blade and have Empowered it to slay Angels. Whoever holds it shall find their fears turned into Courage, and their courage into Fear. The user shall never see Death unless the Sword is destroyed, it is placed on his Grave, or he is the last Man to use it'."_

" _Yeah, I figured it was cursed," Jaune stated bluntly. "But why did Topaz go crazy and kill you and Mom?"_

" _Those 'Spirits' are Demons in Christian mythology. One of them must've possessed him; either that or he got the Obsidian Sword from the deeper crypts. The Obsidian Sword is one possessed by the demon in the priest whose book I read; either that or he had a Demon put his soul in that sword instead. The man calls himself 'Entity of Darkness', again translated. That entity took over his body and the next thing you know he kills everyone. Everyone, that is, but you."_

" _But why did he spare me?"_

" _I gave you Crocea Mors. In so doing, I didn't go to the afterlife like I should've; this way, I could teach and give you what I needed to. Not only that, but its presence suppressed your Aura and Semblance. Entity wouldn't be able to kill you if you had Crocea Mors, and it wouldn't be able to take your… abilities."_

" _My 'abilities'?"_

" _God blessed you when you were born, Jaune."_

" _What? I don't understand."_

" _Look… your mother had reproductive cancer, and if she had another, you'd be the last one. Then, a man assaulted your mother when she was carrying you; it was a God-given miracle that you survived. The doctors tried to give a post-birth abortion and failed. Not only that, but two days later Demons tried to possess and kill you. Even Death himself tried to drag you to where he was. But God prevailed: of all the things He could've sent to save you, He Himself stopped the Demons and Death, and then gave you an unimaginable gift."_

" _What gift? And what 'god' are you talking about?" Marron sighed, then smiled at his son._

" _It's in a place called Tucson's Book Trade. After Initiation, tell him your name and ask for what your father left for you. He'll tell you where it is: there'll be a package in there. Take Crocea Mors and Polaris with you just in case, and make sure no one follows or goes with you."_

" _Mmh. Good to know. But, what I meant was—."_

" _I know what you meant. You'll understand when you find what's in the package. When you get to the book, read the Old Testament, then Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in that order."_

 _Marron disappeared as the scene faded to something completely weird. Jaune was no longer in control of his body as he saw something akin to an animated featurette, except it seemed more educational._

" _In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth," a voice said out of nowhere. "And God created Man in His own Image. In the Image of God created He him; male and female created He them."_

 _*The animations that inspired this sequence were removed from YT because the channel itself was deleted. Sorry for the inconvenience*_

 _*Dream Sequence End*_

* * *

 _*Rodger Dream Sequence, near end*_

" _So this girl," Rodger asked Lucy. "You mean she's like your mother?" Lucy nodded._

" _She really missed me when I was gone," the little girl in a lilac dress said. "When she comes to see me, she has rose petals in her hair, and it's very pretty."_

" _And you're seeing her now," Rodger asked again, still confused about what was going on._

" _Yes. She can't see you because she doesn't know it's you. That's why you can't see her: you don't know it's her."_

" _Well, there could be a reason for that," Rodger stated bluntly. "So what's she look like?"_

" _She has black and red hair about to here," Lucy patted her shoulder to demonstrate the length. That narrowed it down a bit. "And she's very nice. Her eyes look like they're made out of silver, and they're warm when I give her hugs."_

 _Dark red hair with silver eyes… the Fall child still couldn't place it._

" _I told her you look like you have brown and orange hair," Lucy continued, trying to give him more information. "And that your orange hair turns blue when you're mad." That made sense, as his hair was naturally brown, and his Machinamorphism had a native orange glow that turned blue when he got serious. "I also said you have blue stars for eyes, and they shine very bright when you're happy and when you see me." That described his deadly Semblance, and how it reacted with his emotions. Now it made more sense: she was describing what their souls looked like. Or how they looked to her, which was strange._

 _So… dark red hair, silver eyes, a kind personality, and a Semblance that involved rose petals… well, there's Cinder, but it can't be her: her eyes are orange, her hair is black, and her Semblance is Obsidian Glass. Then who was it?..._

" _I still can't place her," Rodger admitted. "Can I get a name?"_

" _No, that's cheating," Lucy giggled. "You'll know her when you see her."_

" _Well, that's why I'm asking you about her; it's so then I'll know who she is when I see her."_

 _Lucy giggled again._

" _It's almost morning again, Gage," Lucy said, calling him by his 'middle'/real name. "I'll see you again someday."_

 _A tear welled in Rodger's eyes before the dream faded and he was returned to the real world. The white room was replaced with the blackness of his eyelids._

 _*Rodger Dream Sequence End*_

* * *

Rodger/Gage opened his eyes to find tears actually on his cheeks. The sun shone in his face as it always did. He got up and used his Machinomorphic form to grab his clothes, absorb them/put them on, and reverted to reveal himself dressed.

Jaune awoke with a start, breathing heavily as he searched frantically for the demonic sword Crocea Mors and his personal sword Polaris. He found both and breathed a sigh of relief before putting on his armor and his swords. As opposed to his 'Pumpkin Pete's hoodie' and blue jeans combination, Jaune had underneath his armor a pair of normal blue jeans and a black hoodie with his family crest on it with the motto: " _Fidelitate erga Deum super omnia._ " Loyalty to God above all else. Rodger felt proud of Jaune, though his pride in the older blond was overwhelmed by worry about his true placement of faith.

The 'man' in the corner could see it all. Right next to the Rela boy. Honestly, 'he' felt a strong connection to the warrior, but 'he' couldn't place it. It was strange, like a warm buzzing feeling in 'his' chest. If only he knew 'his' secret—.

"Be glad you didn't strip down and change with the guys," James said out of nowhere, scaring the daylights out of his neighbor. The Force allowed him to read people's thoughts, which was strange because 'he' never knew it even existed before just then. "Otherwise, that could've been awkward."

"I, umm… don't know what you're talking about," the 'boy' tried to cover. 'He' looked left and right before leaning in and whispering, "Please don't tell anyone."

"I'll only tell if you want me to," James said modestly, surprising his neighbor. Rela's normally didn't show the courtesy of keeping secrets, and Kitim never kept a secret without starting rumors. 'He' raised an eyebrow, not wanting to be betrayed. "I'm not like the others, I swear."

"'Ey, you," Derrek shouted at the two. "If you're ready, c'mon down fer chow. Eggs, bac'n, cakes, an' somethin' else I wanna say."

"Biscuits and gravy," Jaune corrected as he latched Polaris to his belt. "We used to have it all the time back home."

"Oh, I'm sure you did, farmboy," Weiss taunted him. Jaune only rolled his eyes before putting on his armor, which was noticeably too small for him. "I'm also sure those are hand-me-downs."

"Nah, they're just too small," Jaune again corrected. "I've had these for two years now, back when Dad was teaching me how to forge armor on my own. I guess I gotta remake 'em."

"You guess? That looks painful to wear, even for a toothpick such as you."

"You want to hold a cursed sword," Jaune threatened. Weiss rolled her eyes and continued.

"My point is, why haven't you refitted them yet?"

"Family forge was destroyed when my brother and I clashed last."

"That bad, huh," Derrek asked as he walked up with a cigarette in hand, ready to be lit. Weiss slapped it out of his hand and shook her head. "Well I'm sorry I've been scarred for life by… incidents."

"Even so, it's bad for your health," Weiss argued. "I'd prefer it if you got a girlfriend or something."

"You have one in mind?"

"Well, it certainly wouldn't be me…." Weiss looked to the left and right after realizing that everyone now thought she 'had the hots' for him.

"Meh, I'm not interested anyways."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm revolted by the idea of 'love', whatever in the Argonne that means."

"Say, where'd Jaune go?"

"To where you wanted to go to begin with," James said dully, knowingly lying just to hurry along the day. Jaune looked at the man in disgust as everyone began trusting in the antihero.

"Then what're we waiting for," Weiss shouted. She immediately took Derrek's hand and raced off before he could protest. Apex shouted something about hating it all the way there. Ruby took her chance and began reading her tentacle comic, slightly drooling at the sight of it in the morning. Rodger transformed into his grinder ball form, took Ruby in through the side, and drove off to race the one-sided couple to the mess hall. Yang took who was then her boyfriend and waltzed off to meet her sister there. A hyperactive redhead dragged her friend out of the men's room and raced to the mess hall, shouting that they weren't 'together-together' the whole way, totally sealing the idea that they were just that. James dropped to the floor in a kneeling position with the now-noticeable he/she, and immediately both darted off with insane speeds. Jaune stood there while everyone else flooded out to eat until he was the only one there… well, outside of Pyrrha Nikos, who he noticed was paused in the exit. He shrugged before sighing.

"You were right, Jaune," he told himself. "Everyone shuns the runt, and the outcast, and the Faunus. Especially the ones who are better than everyone else." He began his own slow journey to the mess hall, ignoring the fact that Pyrrha was looking at him with longing eyes, both longing for attention and to give said attention.

* * *

"Oh come on," Rodger shouted, zipping back and forth on two wheels to find his locker. "You can't be telling me mine is empty. Where _is_ it?"

He zipped over to Ruby and Yang and overheard the following:

"… And besides, I don't need help to grow up," Ruby argued with her sister. "I drink _milk_."

"I never did, and I grew up faster than you run," Rodger said flatly. "Now do you know where Star Slicer is?"

"Star who?"

" _Star Slicer_. My giant scythe that I can pour my Aura into, you know that one?"

"Well, that depends," Ruby said, bordering detectably flirtatious. Rodger rolled his eyes and used his plate-link whips protruding from his elbows to grab it out from under Crescent Rose. Ruby blushed violently as he retracted his whip, even more ferociously when he caught it with the same hand without a single waver, immediately activating the titanic blade and releasing his Aura into the blade. Ruby almost fainted, causing Rodger to groan at her reaction and turn around rapidly, deactivating Star Slicer and hooking it to his belt. At the same time, he felt a powerful connection to Ruby, almost as if Lucy had told her where his locker was when he asked her to remember where it was in case he needed it. That would mean that Lucy knew, trusted, and saw her every night, which was something Rodger highly doubted.

"Well, that was something," James said as he passed by. "Now where'd sh—excuse me, 'he', go?"

In the meantime, Jaune was walking past when he overheard Weiss and Pyrrha talking about teams. More specifically, he heard Weiss's overconfident thoughts as if they were spoken, and decided to go over and talk.

"I'd wait to celebrate if I were you," Jaune said, planning to burst her bubble of pride. "I hear that there's a randomized selection."

"As if I'd believe you," Weiss glared at Jaune. Pyrrha stepped in before Jaune could start getting angry.

"I've heard the same thing," Pyrrha admitted. Weiss just glared at Jaune.

"You had to have learned it after Pyrrha," Weiss tried again. Jaune returned Weiss's glare full-fury.

"Actually, he referred me to the one he learned from, and I learned it from them."

"So your source is faulty?" Jaune's fists clenched and began shaking.

"It was Professor Port who dropped the hint, if I'm not mistaken."

"And can he be trusted? I doubt he can."

Jaune lost it. His Instinct took over and drew in Aura faster than Ruby could run ten feet; the violent pull seemed like an explosion of light with a rainbow over his head.

"I'm tired of you undermining everything I say because you think you're better than me."

"And if I am?"

"You've barely met me and you're already assuming that you are. How would you know to begin with? Higher status? Hereditary Semblance? Religious reasons? Research? You can't know unless you test it."

Weiss was about to argue before she recognized that what he said wasn't all that far off, and that she really was assuming that she was better than him.

"You're right," she admitted. "And I apologize for that. But you haven't given me a reason to trust you yet."

"I think he just did," Pyrrha stated. Weiss nodded her head in acceptance.

"Point taken… but I'm still in a higher social class than you."

"Saw that one coming," Jaune laughed as his Instinct faded and returned the taken Aura to the environment. "And Dad could've taken any social status he wanted if he wanted to, but he decided he wanted a break from the adventure days in his own way, and not on someone else's terms. So, I'm in the 'farmboy' class, and you're in the 'rich annoying girl' class."

" _Excuse me_?"

"Hey, you called me a farmboy, so I have every right to call you a rich annoying girl." Weiss huffed in defeat.

"How do you have so many good points?"

"Because you never asked for them," Jaune stated flatly. Another sigh.

' _All first-year initiates please report to the cliff for initiation_ ,' Glynda Goodwitch said over the loudspeaker.

Almost immediately, Jaune was run over by Rodger with Ruby and Yang riding inside and shotgun respectively (and literally in Yang's case). Pyrrha was sent spinning into a locker as Weiss had to dive out of the way so she wouldn't get run over.

"Just my luck," Jaune said after pulling his head out of the floor. Immediately after saying that, he was landed on by James and his odd friend, again being pummeled into the floor. Weiss and Pyrrha could only look on in confusion at the crater Jaune was now in. Nora pranced by, narrowly missing Jaune's head, followed shortly by Lie Ren who simply avoided the grounded knight. Derrek came over and pulled Jaune out of the crater.

"That's some pretty bad luck, isn't it," Derrek joked. The small group made their way to the cliff, praying that Initiation wouldn't be too difficult. In Pyrrha's case it was more literal, as Jaune saw out of the corner of his eye that she was muttering words to herself and running her thumb along a Hellenic Script, spelling out Nike if he wasn't mistaken. Weiss and Derrek simply reloaded their weapons with Dust and Plasma Magazines respectively. It was obvious who worshipped which 'gods' in Jaune's eyes: Pyrrha went with the Hellenic Olympian gods while Schnee and Churchill-Manchester were atheists. Jaune decided right there that it was probably a good idea if he followed suite. Problem was, he didn't know where his allegiances fell, so he prayed the way his ancestors did:

' _Pater juste_ ,' Jaune prayed in his heart, ' _ut faciam voluntatem tuam, oro te, et super populum tuum benedictio tua. Tu nos ab hoste protege, et libera nos de inferno liberabis. Ad dexteram Dei altissimi Amen._ ' Translated from ancient Latin, that essentially meant: 'O righteous Father, that I may do the will of thy hand, I pray thee, and upon thy people thy blessing be. You protect us from the enemy, and save us from hell. To the right of the Most High God, Amen.' Not that Jaune actually knew who he was praying to, but he most definitely prayed with all his heart that it would actually do something.

* * *

*Skipping Ozpin's speech at the cliff*

Rodger awoke from his standing sleep with a snort upon hearing metallic contraptions activating. All he really heard from Ozpin was "blah blah blah, oh by the way, eye contact means you're partners, go and get a relic from the temple thing at the northern edge of the forest, this is for a grade, now good luck and don't die." What Rodger wasn't counting on was exactly _how Ozpin was dropping them off_. Since he was the second one to be launched, this was a bit important to know. Rodger stumbled backwards just as the platform under him snapped up, sending him in a mid-air somersault over the forest. He cursed at Ozpin as he flew over 500 feet in the air before beginning his descent. He was about to transform into his grinder ball form when— _WHAM_! he slammed into a Nevermore's wing, sending both him and the titanic bird into a spiraling fall to the earth.

* * *

Jim Wrino was vaulted about a minute after Rodger went spiraling out of control, two minutes after Ozpin's speech began to begin with. Unlike Rodger, Jim took a knee before the platform activated. Unfortunately, this plan went haywire from the get-go, as being on the front of the platform only makes one _roll off the side of the cliff_. The Rela felt like he was going to be the butt-end of that joke for years to come. He used the Force to leap at the edge of the cliff, giving him enough of a boost to soar like the other kids were. Looking behind him, he was able to see his cross-dressing ally's launch; upon launch, her clothes almost caused an embarrassing moment for the both of them as her top almost gave way. Luckily, she grabbed her nonexistent necklace to keep herself from experiencing a slip-up of the highest degree.

* * *

Derrek saw by the way Jim's ally grabbed a necklace he could've sworn didn't exist before 'his' launch that 'he' was really a she. All he needed was a name now and he could place her.

He couldn't focus on that now, as he was about to be launched, three launches apart from the cross-dresser's near-miss. He put one foot behind him and bent his forward knee like his training taught him. His shining white armor caught most of the impact as he was launched, Scout HUD activated as he began to fly. He took his helmet off of his belt and put it on, completing the 'ARC trooper' look as he removed his rifle from his back and transformed it into its assault rifle form.

" _Apex, come in_ ," Weiss's voice crackled over their personal intercom. Derrek rolled his eyes.

"Snowflake, this is Apex," Apex responded. "And I thought we agreed that having each other's locations was cheating."

" _I just want to make for sure it works in case of an emergency_ ," Weiss argued. " _I'll keep it deactivated until I require your assistance. It won't be cheating if we use it solely for purposes of employee-employer matters._ "

"Not if you use it unjustly," Derrek warned. He heard Weiss sigh.

" _I promise I won't use it improperly. Snowflake out._ "

* * *

Jaune was speaking with Ozpin, asking about a parachute or something similar when he was launched. He almost flailed around like a ragdoll, but something calmed him. He straightened out his flight path and drew Polaris. The white gold blade glimmered in the sun and whistled as he ascended above the clouds and descended to the earth once more. With the sword firmly in his hand, he took off a silver buckler from his belt (not his belt buckle, a buckler and buckle are two completely different things) and tapped it with his personal sword, transforming it into his three-point shield Orion.

At about 100 feet above the tree line, Jaune attached Orion to his left forearm before slamming into an Ursa at terminal velocity. While inexperienced with fighting with personal Aura after the two years of using Crocea Mors, Jaune was well-versed in combat with the Aura around him like his father taught him before his untimely death. It had become instinctual to Jaune after using it so long; as such, it was only natural that Jaune would become engulfed in the power. An omnicolor Aura enveloped the blond knight as he recovered from the landing.

Before he finished recuperating, he felt a dark presence surrounding him. He looked up to see a large pack of Beowolves and Ursai surrounding him, all eager and hungry to attack and/or devour him. Jaune adjusted his stance to a more battle-appropriate form and readied his weapons just in time for the dark creatures to let out a ferocious battle cry.

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos arrived on-scene when she heard the cry of at least a dozen Beowolves, only to see Jaune holding his own against a pack of dozens of Beowolves and at least six small Ursai. Actually, he was doing better than holding his own—he was coming out on top without so much as a drop of sweat on his brow. Instead, it was the Grimm who were growing weary, attacks slowing steadily until Jaune was able to cut them down with relative ease.

* * *

* _Twenty minutes later_ *

"In other words, your father taught you a way to draw Aura from your surroundings? Because you couldn't unlock your own?"

"Essentially, yes."

"And this only worsened when your brother went rogue and practically destroyed your entire family."

"That's right."

"Have you at least unlocked your Semblance?"

"No. Instinct isn't tied to any secondary power; it is its own power."

"So, if someone were to unlock your Aura for you, would you still be able to use this… Instinct, you called it?"

"Dad said nothing on that," Jaune admitted to Pyrrha, who was still trying to comprehend everything he was saying. "I guess the only way we'd ever find out is by trying. And don't argue about it being dangerous: firstly, I've been through much worse than being a human guinea pig; and secondly, I never said anything about wanting to try it. Honestly, I don't think I want to know what my Aura's like."

Pyrrha smiled at the blond.

"Each respective Aura fits perfectly into the person it rests in," Pyrrha explained. "In a way, your Aura is just like you because it _is_ you. Now, would you like to try to unlock your Aura on your own, or would you like me to help you?"

Jaune pondered this for a moment. On the one hand, it would be a sign of masculine weakness to have a woman unlock his Aura for him; tipping the scale, he might never be able to unlock his Aura on his own, and may never get another chance to have it unlocked at all. Remembering what happened to his family and the nearby villages to his farm, and most especially what he swore on that day, Jaune took his chances and made a decision.

"It's better than being too weak to stop Topaz if he ever comes along," Jaune chose. "I'd rather have my pride ruined than stand by and watch my brother lose to the darkness in him. I'd like you to help me unlock my Aura." Instantly, Jaune felt as if something above and within and around him was smiling at his decision and humility. Pyrrha obliged and placed a hand on his head, beginning some sort of Greek-styled ritual as she began reciting a prayer in Greek.

 _Oblivious to Me as you are, you still follow My ways_ , a calming yet loud voice rumbled in Jaune's chest and in his ears, vibrating his very soul. _Follow your father's instruction, and you will truly see him with Me in Heaven._

Only a fraction of a fraction of Pyrrha's Aura actually entered Jaune's body before a blazing white light engulfed and almost blinded both of them. It ended in a second or less, but Jaune came out looking completely different: his muscles were more defined, definitely larger than before; his face, despite the jawbones becoming more set, became smoother; his blue eyes had a few streaks of lighter blue in random points; he had gone from 5'11 to 6'4 rather suddenly; and his blond hair had grown out slightly. His white armor no longer fit him, beginning to crack at the seams, but his Aura filled in the gaps quite easily. As a matter of fact, white smoke began rising from his armor and personal sword where his Aura emanated the most. Crocea Mors no longer had a dark presence to it, and in fact seemed quite docile and old now. The ancient blade was beginning to rust, quite frankly, only delayed by Jaune's apparently titanic Aura.

* * *

*8 minutes ago*

Rodger had just finished beating the life out of three Ursai when he heard something coming after him. He both literally and metaphorically steeled himself for whatever it was. The sounds were reminiscent of an old sci-fi television show and movie series, a pre-Grimm era movie called 'Star Wars'; the laser energy guns that the 'cloned troopers' used, to be more precise. When Rodger turned to face the source of the sounds, he saw that blue flashes were flickering in the dark forest behind his small clearing. He transformed into his humanoid mechanical form, including plasma-based cannons replacing the forearms and hands, and aimed one cannon at the source of the sound.

As Fall expected, Derrek 'Apex' Churchill-Manchester in his rip-off armor charged into the clearing while blasting his rip-off of a weapon behind him. Rodger found a large Ursa Major, took aim, and fired at the head—upon contact with the Ursa's armored skull, the plasma projectile exploded violently and vaporized the beast's body down to the shoulders. Derrek took several pot-shots, destroying the internal organs of several Grimm.

"Well," Rodger said with a more mechanical voice as the duo continued incinerating the oncoming horde. "What'd you do to grab such attention?"

"I may or may not have landed on the Alpha," Derrek responded. "And you? Those Ursai looked healthy before you bashed their skulls in."

"Hey, they thought I was a giant walking fish," Fall answered unhappily as he pulverized yet another two Beowolves.

"Those actually exist, you know," Churchill-Manchester responded, earning a sidelong glance from Rodger. "They're essentially a cross between giant Valean catfish and Mistralian Crabs. They're called Sumo Lobsters for their size and some of their actions. Not exactly sentient, or smart to begin with for that matter, but they do exist."

"Are they bipedal, reddish-brown?" Derrek sniped out another Creep.

"Quadrupedal actually, and most are anywhere from oak to yellow-orange. There are some exceptions to both rules, but that's generally how they are."

"Oh," the orange lights in Rodger's armor dimmed slightly. "Maybe they did confuse me for a fish. That's a *gulp* nice thought."

"Maybe we should go fishing someday," Apex jabbed at the Outskirts survivor jokingly. Rodger reverted to his human form in a puff of sulfur-gold smoke in time to whip out Star Slicer and rip the last Beowolf in half with said weapon.

"Maybe we should just call each other partners and go find a relic," Rodger sighed, turning to Derrek as the young adult took off his helmet. The two looked rather deeply into each other's eyes (A/N: not like *googley eyes*, get your minds out of the gutter; my brother and I have 'don't look away' contests all the time), essentially scouring over each other's souls as they stared each other down. Eventually, Rodger had to look away in surprise as Derrek's left eye turned into that of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"Gotcha," the Legendary Faunus said both triumphantly and as a response to Rodger's request. "So… to the North, correct?"

Rodger nodded.

"Then ONWARD!" Apex accidentally turned south and began marching in a cartoonish way, leaving Rodger behind to pinch the bridge of his nose and wonder what kind of mess he'd gotten into.

"North is this way," Rodger said dully as he began trekking in the right direction. Apex stopped and turned to give Rodger a questioning look.

"You sure, Gage," Apex asked as Gage kept walking.

"Yes, I'm certain," the boy in question growled. "And don't call me Gage, that's not my name."

"You positive about that, _Gage_?"

"Look, that name brings up pretty harsh memories, so can you please _never_ call me that again?"

After a few minutes of arguing, the duo saw a bright flash of blazing white Aura; someone seemed to have unlocked or unleashed their full Aura. The two charged towards the source to find that it was the blond knight and the Spartan Girl who were nearest the source. Jaune was still letting off white Aura Smoke from his clothes and skin while Pyrrha had yet to retract her Aura shield. Rodger instantly figured out what happened: Pyrrha unlocked Jaune's Aura and was surprised at the Knight's Aura threshold; in fact, the blast was so powerful that it left a bleached shadow where Jaune's Aura exploded.

"Just how much Aura _was_ that," Derrek almost shouted. Rodger almost smirked, thinking he knew the answer, only to drop his jaw when Jaune gave his answer:

"That wasn't even half of it," Jaune admitted, even astounding Pyrrha. "At least, that would've been half about eight years ago, but it's been eight years. My Aura's bound to have grown since then."

"Well, it's good to know that no one died," Derrek sighed with relief.

* * *

*later…*

"Now that we're here," Derrek said. "We should probably find some matching 'relics', to quote the Headmaster."

"Wait, why do they have to be matching," Rodger almost shouted in confusion. "Who said they had to be matching?"

"Rumors," was all Derrek said. Rodger looked among the chess pieces on the pedestals and came to a frightening realization.

"Ut-oh," the survivor swallowed. "Any matching pairs are gone. *sigh* Great. We took so long helping those weirdos blast through those Grimm that we've got no relics left."

"Hang on a second," Apex muttered, staring at one of the pedestals. "There's a set of playin' cards at the base of each pedestal… four of a kind on each set… that makes sense."

"Let me guess: a matching set is a team of four, and each four-of-a-kind is like two of the same chess piece. Am I right?"

"Precisely. Pick a card and suite. I'll follow suit."

Rodger chuckled at this bad pun, as did Jim and the strange guy/girl who'd become his partner.

"Ace of Diamonds," Jim said as he found his card. Rodger drew an Ace of Hearts as Charles/Charlotte—Jim's partner—picked up an Ace of Clubs. Apex bent over and retrieved the final Ace, the Spades suite, and stuffed it in his helmet.

"Say, that's not a bad idea," Rodger admitted, stuffing his card up his sleeve. Jim hid his in the wartail on his head as Charlotte slipped hers in her *ahem* cleavage. Apex caught Jim's eyes following Charlotte's card down between her *ahem* assets and rolled his eyes at the obvious perversion going on. Charlotte eventually noticed and playfully slapped Jim in the cheek before walking away with one of the more… seductive walks, so to speak.

"And that right there is the reason we can't have nice things," a deep voice came from behind Rodger. The two level-headed boys nodded while Jim looked over at Charlotte with somewhat lustful eyes. "You may want to go now, I'm looking at the return cliff and things are not looking pretty there."

"Thanks for the intel, but I know," Derrek said coolly. "And how'd your NEI initiation go?"

"Meh, the GFTC's kind of harsh but I guess it's better than Amaar."

"I don't want to know how you know each other, I just want to skedaddle," Rodger said before transforming into a grinder ball and driving off at insane speeds, followed closely by Charlotte and Jim and eventually by Derrek.

* * *

*over by the return cliff*

By the time they got to the edge of the forest, they were already too late. A titanic Cat Grimm, a Liger, had already come onto the scene and had beaten out everyone but Jaune and Ruby—Jaune was between the Liger and Pyrrha while Ruby was doing the stupid thing and attacking the thing head on. She was doing remarkably well until the beast swatted at her, making contact and sent Ruby flying into a tree with a loud _crack_. Rodger panicked and activated his Aura, intending to transform into his grinder ball form and race to her aid—instead, he accidentally activated his Semblance in Solar Shield form, surrounding Ruby and her downed comrades with an energy shield reminiscent of a continuous solar flare while he began to glow with the same radiant energy while his eye's base colors began to separate (i.e. from Lime *Rodger's eye color* to Yellow and Blue).

Jim noted the fear in Rodger's mind and how it commanded his Semblance and its attributes and effects. While familiar with the Dark Side of the Force, he couldn't help but wonder if Rodger's panic over Ruby's safety caused him to unknowingly summon a Solar Shield around them. This made him ponder how the Kitim and Rela could change for the better if they changed their attitudes.

"Now _that_ is one helluva way to introduce yourself," Charlotte hefted her hammer, Aegis Fang, over her left shoulder. Jim rolled his eyes as Rodger relaxed, probably recognizing that his Semblance had finally agreed with him after nearly four years.

' _Can you get out of my head_ ,' Rodger's mind pushed Jim out as the survivor noticed that the Rela was trying to read his mind. ' _Keep to yourself, dirty man._ '

" _Dirty man_ ," Jim repeated aloud, confusing everyone. "Who're you calling dirty, little man? You say you fought Scorchers in a desert for four years, so I'd say you're way dirtier than I am."

"Wrong kind of dirty, you perverted Desert Howler," Rodger responded, rolling his eyes as the feline Grimm pawed at the Solar Shield only to get singed claws.

"What proof do you have of me being a pervert," James demanded. Rodger pointed to Charlotte and raised an eyebrow at James. "On second thought, I will remain silent."

"That's what I thought," Rodger stated. "We need to draw this kitty's attention. Anyone have any ideas?"

"Ligers are territorial," Derrek stated bluntly. "We need to make it think we're invading its turf. A light strike to its backside would be effective to catch its eye… but we can't just hit it and expect not to face a counterstrike. It will try to attack us in return, so we don't just need to draw its anger—we need to either scare it away or kill it. I vote kill, since Ligers are both Grimm and real creatures."

"Well then, let's look for a weak point," Charlotte said as she swung her hammer around before leaping at the creature. Aegis Fang burned red-hot as fire engulfed the steel head. The young woman gave a battle cry as she descended on the creature before slamming her flaming hammer down on its body. The large cat howled in pained anger, clawing at Charlotte jumping off of its back.

" _That_ got its attention," Derrek swallowed, having never actually fought a Grimm of this magnitude before. Even though Ligers were smaller and dumber than Goliaths, even though Derrek had killed Goliaths before, Ligers were quicker and had thicker hides than even the biggest Goliath. In fact, not even an experienced team of Huntsmen could fight one without help—it would take a miracle to face off against a Liger, especially in their inexperienced youth. "What now?" Charlotte held her forehead for a second or two before perking up suddenly.

"It has a weak spot near its claws, eyes, tail, and ears," she blurted just as James searched for weak points with the Force.

"Soft underbelly near the rear legs," James noted. "Kinetic impacts to the ribcage will shatter a rib and send bone into the heart and lungs."

"That's too brutal, even for me," Rodger stated flatly. "I may have killed Scorchers, but I made sure I went for the head every time."

"Do we have another choice," Derrek demanded. Rodger hummed for a second of thought before the lightbulb over his head dinged (wonder where that came from).

"We might, actually," Rodger planned. "If we hit it with a big-enough explosive or laser, we won't have to aim per-se."

"Explosive or laser… congratulations, Yes-Man," Charlotte decided. "You've just unofficially volunteered yourself for this one."

"But I'll need a distraction and someone to give it a bomb to eat," Rodger argued. "I don't exactly have a laser, and my cannons only go up to a 150mm. Sorry, but Apex is gonna have to help me on this one."

"How about this," Jim took charge. "Charlotte, keep it away from me; Apex, feed it as many of those grenade things as you can spare; Gage, give it a shell or two but try not to detonate them. I'll be the fuse, so keep it away from me so I can draw in Aura and static; otherwise, we're mince-meat."

"How will that help," Rodger asked. "And how do you know my name… nevermind, I think I already know the answer."

"Because I'm—." _Swat_. "Batman," was a bit quieter as the Liger got bored with their inactivity and simply charged in, batting Jim through the tree line. Gage transformed into his bipedal mech form and blocked another paw.

"On second thought, maybe I'm the only sane person here," Gage thought aloud.

"I take offense to that," Charlotte shouted as she leapt over the Liger and struck it in the tail with her long-handled hammer. The beast howled in pain and turned to bite its attacker, only to get a mouthful of thermal grenades in a backpack that seemingly came out of nowhere. Derrek appeared in front of the creature in the form of a Nine-Tailed Fox.

"What exactly do you mean, 'the only sane person here'," Derrek demanded from across the battlefield as Rodger transformed his hands and upper torso into a 150mm artillery cannon.

"Well, let's see," Rodger grunted as he fired several live 150mm rounds into the Liger's backside, further enraging it. "The only girl in our group is a cross-dresser. The oldest guy is a nineteen-year-old sniper with a questionable prototype visor essentially replacing his right eye and rip-off movie armor and weapons. And to top that off, the key to our survival is an arrogant Batman-wannabe who also happens to be a movie rip-off in almost every sense of the word."

"How am I wearing or using 'rip-off movie armor and weapons' again?" The Liger turned on Gage, who aimed his barrel right at the beast's face.

"Have you ever heard of Star Wars, dude? You look just like an ARC trooper, and that sniper rifle looks like a scoped rifle with a silencer. And don't get me started on Jim: he looks just like an EU Jedi-Sith cross guy, what with that Liaison thing he's got going." The Liger got a load of 150mm shells in its mouth, forcing it to swallow. It got several more shells before it head-butted Gage away.

"You are very close to bringing back painful memories, young-'un."

"Lemme guess: a previous girlfriend, or a fellow fan who got sniped out?"

"Neither: I meant painful as in we'll be in a world of hurt if we don't kill this bloody thing before we start talking about Coruscant! What do you think I meant, you nit-wit?"

"Remind me how being a Star Wars fan makes you sane," Charlotte asked bluntly. "From what I've heard, you ran away from a crime that should've made you a hero, you survived the Outskirts, and your friends just so happen to be half-Scorchers. Heck, your grandfather invented Machinamorphism, one of the founding martial arts involving the manipulation of both body _and_ soul. If anyone's weird, it'd be you."

"And you cross-dressed for no reason, use a non-transforming weapon, and use a reddish fire as a Semblance, which just so happens to allow you to read the strengths and weaknesses of your enemies like a book," Rodger stated. "Tell me _that_ isn't weird."

"It's better than being a Jedi-wannabe, I suppose," stated Apex. "Then again, I'm not much better, I don't think."

" _INCOMING_ ," a loud yell resonated from the forest where Jim was launched to. Suddenly, the Rela came flying faster than a bat out of Hell towards the hellish cat, laser-swords ignited. He landed on the Liger, plunging his blue and red blades into its hide without much resistance, and charged his planned attack. Sure enough, it was crazy enough to possibly work; Gage looked in awe as Jim's arms began crackling with blue electricity more and more with each passing second. Finally, when Jim was charged more than a power plant, he sent the electricity through his plasma blades and into the gut of the creature where the explosives were.

The Rela barely leaped off of the creature before the beast erupted violently, black smoke vaporized instantly as the blast ripped it to oblivion and then some. Rodger's fear for Ruby overcame him once again, but this time the Solar Shield surrounded the explosion instead of the twelve teens (eleven, if one considered the fact that Derrek was slightly beyond minimum voting age). The only people at risk were Jim and Charlotte, who were too close to the blast to not get a personal Solar Shield; Gage was also at a potential risk, as he began glowing even more violently, even emitting small Solar Flares (Solar Flares are smaller versions than the normal-sized solar flares) across his body. Ruby was almost afraid that he would lose control of his Semblance and explode himself.

When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the creature but a scorched ashen crater where it last stood and the fading Solar Shield from Rodger's powerful Semblance. The bright yellow glow left Rodger as his Semblance cooled off and recharged with the Sun's vibrant rays. Jaune stood in front of his partner, Nora, and Ren with his hands held out in front of him, smoking white as if he'd used his massive Aura to block out the force from the explosion, or had been expecting to at the very least.

"Well, that was a thing," Jim huffed as his clothes started smoking from his electrical output. Charlotte almost fell back as she cooled off her own Semblance. Derrek reopened his eyes and let his nine tails fade into Aura and retract into his body. "So, who wants a victory shot of soda or something?"

"I'll gladly take your offer," Charlotte muttered. "I think I'll pass on the whole hot-and-dark sort of thing though."

"So long as it's not paired with something weird like a drinking game or a spin-the-bottle thing," Rodger almost wheezed. "I hate those games with a passion, gosh dang it."

"First of all, language," Derrek scolded Gage, who was slightly confused by this statement. "And secondly, how do you even know of those. As for your question, so long as our two quartets can join us I'd be… relieved to take a shot of something, alcoholic or not."

"Who says we're going to the liquor store," Jim winked. "I'm thinking ice cream or something. Bill on me, who's up for it?"

* * *

*Back at Beacon, Auditorium*

"And last of the teams formed by the chess pieces but certainly not least," Ozpin announced. "Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long: the four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by: Ruby Rose."

It took a minute to usher the new Team RWBY off the stage, but eventually Ozpin was able to continue.

"This year, we had quite a few students beyond what we had expected," Ozpin continued. "To prepare for this, I have evolved the test for those smart, desperate, or greedy enough in some cases, to become members of a team with a different set of relics: four-suite cards. For example, the Queen of Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds would make up a team. Since there were only twelve extra students by some miracle, I placed in the forest only three tiers of cards: King, Joker, and Ace. Partners would retrieve two cards, two suites for one tier preferably. When I call your name now, come to the stage and give me the card you retrieved. Now that you all understand the basis, let's begin.

"Rex Aurum, Spades suite; Regina Gaza, Diamonds suite; Sasha Lexington, Hearts suite; and Abraham Malus, Clubs suite. The four of you retrieved the Joker tier: the one card rarely used in any game, but perhaps the most destructive to both user and opponent when played. The four of you shall work together as Team RGAL (Regal), led by Rex Aurum."

A teen with sunglasses, a black padded jacket and matching pants, and a light-blue t-shirt with a peculiar design on it glared at Rex through his sunglasses as the gold-haired man stepped down from the stage. The man and Rex were essentially rivals, with Rex being more of a mercenary for the money whereas his rival followed the moral codes of a freelance agent. The two were part of the New Eden Initiative, a sort of mercenary training ground with four given factions: Gallente, the more democratic of the factions; Amaar, the war-mongering empirical faction; Minmatar, the freedom-fighting vigilante faction faced off against the Amaar; and Caldari, the bureaucratic dictatorship whose only goal was commanding the economy among the factions (this sounds familiar to EvE fans, doesn't it?)

"Elana Beaumont, Spades suite," Ozpin called. The man sighed, as he almost figured what was coming. Elana was his friend's twin sister, and was normally the spearhead of several fronts. She collected the King of Spades.

"Ray Santiago, Hearts suite." Elana's boyfriend. Although the son of a crime lord, Ray was always more honorable than anyone else Rex's enemy knew. He found the King of Hearts.

"Daniel Beaumont, Clubs suite." Elana's brother. He could think faster and work more efficiently than most of the NEI could. He retrieved the King of Clubs.

"And Carolus Caelum, Diamonds suite." Carolus (pronounced Carl-us, not Carol-us) sighed, hating the way people mispronounced his name. Still, it wasn't the name that had people fear or respect him: it was the reputation behind that name that gained him loyalty and enemies. He was known for doing what was right, charging more for things that went against his moral code, less and even nothing for what ran along his moral code and needed to be done.

He ascended to the stage and stood taller than any of his teammates. When Ozpin held out his hand to collect Carolus's card, Caelum simply handed it over without question.

"The four of you collected the King-tier: while common and the highest card in most games, it is not nearly as destructible as the one in chess. Unsavory or otherwise, it is up to the king to decide how his kingdom should be ruled. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BRCD (Barricade), led by Elana Beaumont."

The four teens snapped a sharp salute before almost marching off the stage.

"And last, but most certainly not least: James Duncan Wrino, Diamonds suite."

James strode up to the Headmaster, card in his right hand. He used the 'Force' thing and made the card levitate to the gray-haired man.

"Derrek Churchill-Manchester, Spades suite."

Derrek marched up and held out the Ace card.

"Charlotte Golias, Clubs suite."

Charlotte drew her card from where she hid it and gave it to the professor, who sighed as he took it, dusting the card off on his coat before sticking it with the others.

"And Gage 'Rodger' Fall, Hearts suite." Gage almost began glowing red as he marched up, hating the fact that his real and full name was out. His breath was almost smoke when he handed over his card.

"The four of you retrieved the Ace-tier cards: like the pawn in chess, the Ace is both the least and the greatest, due to its dual nature in some competitive games. You truly do have a choice: to be humble and serve the greatest or to rise up and be the greatest. From this day forward, the four of you will work together as Team JDGG (Judge), led by James Wrino."

Suddenly the other three dog-piled their new leader either in congratulation, anger, or a rather explicit desire. After all was said and done, the new Teams RWBY, JNPR, and JDGG went out to a nearby ice cream parlor called 'Chill Bill's'.

* * *

*At Chill Bill's*

"Not a bad place for a small-town parlor, huh," Jim smirked, knowing he had almost literally bought over everyone including the cold-hearted Weiss.

"I've most certainly seen worse," Weiss admitted. "Although they could do better with the interior decoration."

"How old is this place," Yang asked as she sat next to Blake, who was obviously reading a book.

"It's been here since the '80s, so I'd say almost 40 years old," Jaune said out of nowhere. "Actually, I used to work here before… Dad."

"Yeesh, that had to have been harsh," Gage muttered as he browsed the menu. "Ooh, golden apple tart sundae."

"Say, what's a 'Chill Pill Special'," Ruby asked out of nowhere. Jim and Jaune both stopped and looked at one another, concern etched on their faces. Even Blake perked up with wide eyes.

"It's, erm… a special kind of ice cream which you don't get to have," Jim brushed it off.

"Let's just say that some people have gotten a cold-induced migraine in the first bite before," Blake stated, putting her book down. "Only a few people have ever been able to finish even one."

"Humph! I'm certain I could handle it," Weiss said. Gage snorted with laughter.

"Oh really," Gage challenged. "If you can handle it, I can take it head-on no problem."

As the two argued, Ruby began to shrink down with nervousness before she piped up:

"Why don't we all get one and see who can take it?" Pyrrha shivered at the thought.

"One of my friends from Mistral almost died from something similar," the Invincible Girl stammered. "Perhaps it would be unwise to attempt this 'Special'. Besides, it probably isn't all that good for you."

Jaune paled from remembering something, catching everyone's attention.

"My sister cheated and used her Semblance to finish one," he recounted, "Two weeks later, she was still running around the farm before every meal, every single day. Trust me when I say that it's risky with or without a Semblance or Aura."

Gage still shrugged it off with a laugh. Weiss glared at the younger boy.

"I've taken on Scorchers, I can take this on easy," Gage stated.

"Laugh it up, _Gage_ ; pretty soon, you'll see why they call me cold," Weiss countered. "Now where's the waiter?"

"So someone wants a Chill Pill Challenge, eh," the waitress said as she strolled by their table. "You want a hot cocoa for after, or do you want to go without?"

"Without, ma'am," Gage smirked. "And what's the prize if I win?"

"How about a Chill Bill's pillow, a free dessert with if you can manage to go without the cocoa."

"In that case, I'll just take a strawberry sundae," Ruby whimpered. Yang proceeded to order a soda float, Blake a small cold cup of cream, and Jaune ordered several waffle sundaes for Nora, a frozen yogurt for Ren, and a rainbow sherbet for Pyrrha while he took part in the challenge. Charlotte crossed her arms and took a small milkshake, Jim went for two cones, and Derrek took a small Chill Pill for himself, probably to test his own resilience.

"Well, best of luck to the three of you," the waitress (named Wendy) called as she went back behind the counters.

*5 minutes later*

Five Chill Pills (two of which went to Gage), looking like large horse pills made out of Rocky Road ice cream, arrived at the table, and Wendy went to the back for the other things, ordering the challenged to wait until she could referee the challenge. Two suspenseful minutes later and Wendy returned with a digital stopwatch in her pocket with the rest of the orders in her hands.

"I'll let you have those sundaes one at a time, young lady," the red-haired waitress scolded Nora, who immediately shoveled down her first sundae without waiting.

"Alright, here's the rules and conditions," Wendy went on to explain. "I want no shoving, no cheating with a Semblance or Aura for the sake of your own safety, and absolutely no sharing. If you can't take it, don't force yourself to go on—I don't want to have to take any one of you to the emergency room because you were stupid. Now, if you manage to finish off your Pill first, you'll get the pillow and a free dessert or a coupon if you want to save the dessert. If you simply finish it, you'll still get the pillow but can't have the dessert. And if you don't finish it, you can take it home with you or let someone else finish it, but they won't be able to win anything unless they participated.

"And with you, Mr. Fall, I won't accept just finishing one as a victory. You have to either finish both or at least start on your second one if you want the pillow. Now, are all contestants ready?"

Three seconds later, Weiss, Jaune, and Gage all began mauling their Chill Pills.

About halfway through hers two minutes into the competition, Weiss got a cold-induced headache and was unable to finish. All she got for compensation was Derrek wrapping one of his black-tipped orange tails around her head.

Jaune was halfway through his Pill when Rodger started in on his second one, 3 minutes 21 seconds in. Jaune was sweating around this time, but he still kept going since he didn't have a brain freeze yet.

At the 5:19 mark…

"Time," Wendy called, and everyone watching the three-way challenge stopped any betting. By this time, Nora was finished with all of her sundaes and seemed content with herself. "Looks like both of you finished your Pills. Jaune, you might have just been outmatched."

This earned Jaune a crazy look from his fellow students. He simply nodded at this revelation.

"I can't believe it," Weiss almost whined as her teeth clattered. She immediately took a sip from her hot cocoa. "I was beaten by a farm boy and a desert boy."

"Well, that farm boy did once work here, as he himself stated," Derrek said flatly. "Now, it might not have gotten you as much, but you could've taken a smaller size like I have."

"Say, how were you able to even finish that," Yang demanded of Jaune. "I mean, sure you took it slow, but you said your sister went crazy after having one."

"I never said I never had one," Jaune explained. "I'll tell you the whole thing later."

"Congrats, little man," Wendy patted Gage's shoulder. "You're the only one who's won a round with two. I'm thinking you get a second dessert tonight."

"Meh, it's not the cold that could've gotten me," Gage admitted. Ruby started looking downcast at how easy he made it look. "It was the sunflower seeds that I had to look out for. If I'm not careful, I could have an allergic reaction."

"But there were no sunflower seeds in there," Weiss argued. Derrek sneezed from the glare on the window, accidentally spitting out a sunflower seed shell onto his napkin. Weiss looked and sure enough, in the dead center of her Pill was a small heap of sunflower seeds in caramel. "On second thought, maybe I didn't eat far enough. I suppose I'll take mine to-go."

"So, young blood," Wendy addressed Rodger. "You have two free desserts. You want a coupon or two, or are you feeling lucky and think you'll take 'em to-go?"

Rodger hummed as he looked through the menu once more.

"I think I'll take a warm golden apple tart, a warm strawberry tart, and those two pillows, one in a reddish color if you have it," he finally answered.

"Yeah, well you all did pretty well. Jaune, you finished in the same time as he did, so you can take a pillow and a dessert too. Since your boyfriend finished his in a timely manner but didn't participate, you can take his honey." Weiss's eye twitched at the word 'boyfriend' as Derrek simply sighed. The Schnee went to argue but Derrek held her back with a warm tail for her to clutch.

"I'll just take the coupon and the pillow," the Knight answered as he adjusted his back. Slung over his shoulders were the remains of Crocea Mors and his cracking armor. He still needed to reforge them into something new.

"Perhaps she should go with something warm," Derrek suggested for Weiss, as the Schnee was almost turning blue from how cold the Chill Pill was.

"I… will never take… this wretched challenge… ever again," Weiss shivered, making the small crowd laugh.

"SEE! What'd I tell you guys," Jim shouted over the laughter. "This place is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Not bad," Charlotte admitted. "Although, I am getting kind of cold—."

"How about you save the pillow talk for tonight," Blake said dully, adding to the laughter. Charlotte simply grinned as if Blake had caught her in the act.

"Hey, that's my line," Yang almost whined playfully. One of the people present shouted something about this fiasco reminding him of a soap opera.

"Well, the challenge is over folks, so go on with your business as usual," Wendy shouted as she left to grab the treats and pillows.

* * *

"I still can't believe that you won," Weiss griped at Rodger, who was carrying two tarts on top of his pillows, the strawberry on top of the pink one and golden apple on his yellow. Weiss cuddled her pillow for warmth as Apex strode behind her, three tails wrapped around his employer.

"Well, to be honest I _did_ kind of cheat," Rodger admitted. "My whole mouth morphed instinctually when I took that first bite."

"Wait, doesn't any Morphism require Aura," the heiress asked.

"If it's instinctual, then it takes in natural Aura," Gage stated. "It's… complicated, I'll admit."

"So in other words," Jaune figured, "you unintentionally cheated."

"That, and my body kind of absorbed a lot of heat from the Outskirts," the young man said. "That bit's got nothing to do with Aura or any kind of Semblance."

"Before we get into any kind of an argument," Derrek pleaded. "Can we go home now, or do we have another place to go?"

"Well, I know this other place downtown," Jim trailed off, making Derrek groan and everyone else chuckle. "I'm just kidding. I wouldn't do that to you guys. However, I've got a place I need to get to tomorrow and I will not be late."

* * *

 **End**

 **A/N: Sorry for not getting anything out in a while. From the beginning of this month, I've been working until about… last Friday I want to say (I don't mean to quote a song, but it was literally since last Friday night that I've been laid off). The rest of the time… yeah, I have no excuse. I'm sorry folks.**

 **Now that I'm back in it, I'll try to get back in the gist of things and continue where both Prime Heroes and this story have left off. Now, in PH I might include a V-Day thing since this is the month of love (or should I say, *lllooooooooooooooooooovvve*). In this story, the plot might thicken, or there might be a side-plot that goes from T-teen to NC-1701 Mature (anyone get the reference?) Seriously though, did anyone know that the highest movie rating is NC-17?**

 **Back on topic, I might get some things mixed up between AR and PH, so don't blame me if I mention Optimus Prime in this story or the Jedi in the other. I've got to go back and read both stories one-at-a-time, make sure I have them both straight before I go writing any more on either one.**

 **It's midnight when I'm finishing typing this, so I'm stopping right here and now. Have a good 'un y'all. Texas, out.**


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